Gem of War
by Cowboy Alchemist
Summary: For as long as he could remember, he's always wondered about his mother. The only thing he was ever told was that she gave him her gemstone. That's why he's traveled to the small beach town of Beach City: to find answers. This is no longer just Steven's story. This is the story of Isaac Infinite, son of Onyx—the Gem of War. What will change and what will stay the same? R&R PLEASE!
1. Act One: Chapter 1

**Hello and welcome readers to my** _ **Steven Universe**_ **fanfiction: "Gem of War"**

 **I'm a fan of** _ **Steven Universe**_ **, but it took me a while to get into the series. What can I say, I didn't find this show to be all too interesting when I first heard about it. I just thought that it was going to be another bland cartoon from Cartoon Network with an annoying main character with some stupid name. But after seeing all the fanfics and how many people were actually watching the show, I decided to watch it again and then saw how much of a great show it really was. But then again, who wasn't like that. It's not perfect like some people think it is and I do have issues with the show, but I really do enjoy it.**

 **I've looked over many of the other fanfics that the fans of the show made, and some are good, but I haven't seen anything that really wanted me to keep reading it. And so, it inspired me to think up a story and this was something I've been wanting to do for a long time. When I looked at many of the other stories, I saw every few where the OC is a human-gem hybrid. So, I decided to take a chance.**

 **But enough talk, and before we get into the story this is an OC x Pearl story.**

 **Many of you voted for the katana as the Gem weapon of choice for the OC, and so it will be his weapon.**

 **I own nothing, except for the OC.** _ **Steven Universe**_ **is created and owned by Rebecca Sugar and Cartoon Network.**

* * *

It was nighttime, and the moon and stars were out.

About ten minutes ago, Isaac Infinite had been running for his life.

At the age of 18, he was a tall Caucasian with a thin athletic build with medium length, messy blonde, and green eyes. He was wearing a red plaid shirt which he kept the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, gray jeans, and black and red shoes.

After running for his life, Isaac slowed down and was now walking down the street. After a week of traveling alone, both on foot and by transportation, he had finally made it to his destination; Beach City. It was a small town in Beach County in the state of Delmarva, USA. It was a town that's largely unknown to most of the country. It was mostly just a place that people of Delmarva would travel down to for the summer, due to its white sandy beaches and beautiful scenery.

But for Isaac, it was the place for answers. However, things didn't go according to plan.

Panting and almost out of breath, Isaac turned right on the final block. Exhausted beyond what he could've imaged, he finally stopped and leaned his back against the wall of the shop he had come up next to. It was a donut shop called the Big Donut.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Isaac sighed in relief and closed his eyes. "Made it," he whispered.

But the calm wouldn't last him. About three seconds later, a dim light shined near Isaac. He opened his right eye and looked down. With the black sleeves already rolled down, his most distinct characteristic showed; a long tattoo of chains that spiraled down his right arm. It started in the middle of his upper arm, before coiling down to the very end of his arm, before it stopped spiraling at his wrist and continued onto the back of his hand.

And on the back his right hand was where the glowing was coming from: an Onyx gemstone that was in his hand.

"Shit." Seeing it glowing, Isaac quickly pushed away from the wall and started running away.

He ran onto beach that the town was known by. Isaac then turned left and started making his way around a large cliff located at the end of the city, near the ocean. It was the most noticeable landmark in Beach City, as it was the largest. Hoping that there would be a much more open area in front of the cliff, Isaac decided that he would fight the monster chasing him there.

Isaac looked down at his gemstone. The gem was glowing brighter now. It was getting closer. Isaac was starting to get more anxious. However, when he looked up and forward, the blonde saw that he had reached the front of the cliff and there was more than enough space to fight the monster.

"RAAAAGGHHH!"

Isaac quickly turned around when he heard the horrible roar and the monster charged at him.

He quickly put up his arm and the jaws of the monster bites him. Isaac grunted in pain, but turned his back and flung it off. The monster landed on its feet a few feet away, jumped up, and turned around to face him. This allowed Isaac to get a look at it, while his arm bleed. It was a bipedal and humanoid shape creature with two arms and legs, arched spines, and large round heads that prominently display its big nose, gaping jaws, and huge teeth. Its skin was black with glowing green stripes, it had no eyes, and displayed on its nose was a gemstone.

"Ugly motherfucker, aren't you," Isaac said, but wasn't prepared when it lunged at him. It jumped on him and pushed him down on his back. "AGH!" Isaac gritted his teeth in pain as the claws of the monster dug into his shoulders. With its prey pinned, the monster moved its head down and opened its jaws. Thinking quickly, Isaac was able to move his left arm and stopped the head by grabbing its gem.

Even with his also superhuman strength, Isaac was struggling to push it away. So, with his other shoulder still pinned, Isaac used his legs and kicked the monster off with both feet. It flew back a couple meters before bouncing a few times on the ground.

Isaac quickly got to his feet. The monster was also getting back up, shaking its head to clear its head of pain. He then looked at his right hand and held it up high over his head. A ball of white light appeared in his palm, and soon it turned into a weapon.

That weapon was a Japanese Katana sword with a black blade with a glowing white edge. The handle was black four lines going down grip, which starts off straight at the top, but soon spirals down until it reaches the bottom. The cross-guard was in the form of a black diamond. The pommel was a yellow star, but at the tip of the top point was a short chain of only four white links.

The Onyx continued glowing, and Isaac got into a fighting stance. The katana held out in front of him.

The monster roared and charged again. It attacked Isaac with a swipe of its claws, but Isaac parried it with his sword. It continued swinging its claws at him, wanting to rip him to shreds. Isaac blocked the next one, but jumped back to dodge the third swipe. Isaac saw it leap at him with its fists and arms raised over its head. He jumped out of the way before it smashed its fists into the soft sand.

However, Isaac wasn't quick enough when the monster backhanded him.

He screamed in pain, as he was sent flying into the air. Isaac then yelled in pain when his back hit not on soft sand, but against a large stone hand that was halfway buried in the sand. His eyes were closed in agony, but when he opened them, he saw the monster charging at him.

Know that if he didn't think fast he was going to die, Isaac rushed at the monster. Like a game of chicken, the two charged almost like they were intended to ram into each other.

The monster jumped at the human, claws extended out to kill him.

Isaac, however, got down and slide forward baseball-style. The beast over shot and started flying over him. Seeing the opening he's been looking for; the blonde thrusted the katana into its chest.

The monster shrieked pain, as Isaac's slide gave him the momentum to cut it down its body.

 _POOMPF!_

Suddenly there was a loud popping sound as the monster's body was destroyed into a large cloud of smoke. There was no blood. No teared-up body parts. Just the gem. That's all it ever was.

The gem fell down onto the sand. Isaac stayed laying where he was on the beach, but let his arms fall down, stretched outwards. With the threat gone, the Onyx finally stopped glowing. The katana disappeared in a flash, going back into his gem. It was finally over.

Exhausted from being on the run and fighting the monster, all Isaac wanted to do was lay there on the beach and fall asleep. He almost did, but knew that if he didn't get the gem contained, then it would reform and hurt more people.

It's already killed a family in their home, he wasn't going to let it harm anyone else.

Still feeling the pain and his strained muscles and his left arm, Isaac groaned as he moved his body to sit on his knees. Struggling, he then stood up and walked over to the gem. His shirt was torn, and blood stained it at the shoulders. His right side had three claw gashes—when the monster back handed him, it slashed its claws on him too.

But they'll heal quickly. Just like most flesh wounds. However, it didn't stop from hurting.

And by the time Isaac reached the gem, all the wounds were completely healed in an instant. It was another ability that he had, along with his strength. But he wasn't invincible, and there were injuries that he wasn't going to be able to heal from.

He then got down on one knee and reached his right hand for it, but didn't attempt to grab it. Focusing while fighting off his exhaustion, the blonde man conjured a silver bubble that had the gem inside of it. Using both hands, he lifted it up with touching it, as it floated between his hands. Isaac sighed and tapped the top of the bubble with his right hand and it disappeared.

He didn't know where they went off too. But he knew that as long as they were in someplace safe, that he didn't have much to worry about.

With the threat gone, Isaac took the moment to close his eyes and just take in the night breeze of the sea. The wind blew on his face and into his blonde hair, and for the first time in a long time Isaac felt at peace and…even safe.

His ears heard the sound of feet running across the sand, along with some voices he never heard before.

Isaac never had the chance to see the people coming towards him, because fell over to his right and passed out.

His gem started glowing again.

* * *

 **Cowboy Alchemist presents…**

 **A** _ **Steven Universe**_ **fanfiction…**

" _ **GEM OF WAR"**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1: Gem Glow**_

When Isaac came to, he wasn't on his on his back. And he wasn't outside. Laying on a comfortable bed, he groaned as he was beginning to open his eyes. However, he also felt as though something was clawing onto him.

As he cracked open his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of two gnarly mandibles with an eye located at the base of them looking right at him. It then roared at him.

"WOAH!" Isaac yelled as the mandibles lunged at him. With quick reflexes, Isaac quickly grabbed the jaws, the upper mandible with his right hand and the lower mandible with his left, and held the creature back from chumping on his face. Using his strength, he twisted the head upside down and it poof away. Isaac quickly summoned his katana and jumped out of bed. However, he stopped when he saw where he was and what was going on.

Isaac fold himself on the upper level inside of a modest-sized house with one large interior room. The upper level had the bed he was sleeping in, while the main interior contains a lounge with a fireplace and a kitchen/bar. However, deep in the far side of the house's interior opens into a stone and rocky area with an ancient-looking gateway and a circular platform in front of it.

However, as nice as it all was it was swarming with large, centipede-like Arthropods. Each of them had upper portions that were covered with a chitinous, bumpy, dark green exoskeleton throughout the body, with a single pair of legs of the same color. The lower side of each segment was a light green and slightly translucent with a yellow-green diamond shape in the middle of each of it.

"What the hell!" Isaac exclaimed in shock, before another one of the centipedes was sent flying right at him. He quickly dodged it and looked to see where it came for.

He was surprised to see near the kitchen was a tall and somewhat muscular woman with medium, maroon colored skin, and black hair styled into a cube-shaped afro. She wore a black and crimson bodysuit, with cubic shoulder pads—the right one being magenta, the left one being crimson—and a pink star with a magenta outline on her chest. She almost wore a pair of triangular futuristic, translucent orange-tinted shades.

Isaac watched in amazement as the strange woman battled the monsters using a pair of oversized gauntlets that covered half of her lower arm. Each one had a red and light red spiral design around the entire shaft, red and dark red fingers and fingertips, and contained the same star motif on the tops and bases of the gauntlets.

She punched the centipedes around her away. Then one of them landed on her head, but she grabbed it and pulled it apart in two. The woman then looked up at Isaac and saw that he was awake. "Good morning," she said in a calm and collective voice, and then started fighting the bugs again.

"Yeah, hi," Isaac said with an unsure wave. The sound of whipping then brought his attention to another strange girl.

This one was way shorter than the first one, with a somewhat stout build. Her skin was a bright lilac, and she had thick, messy pale lavender hair that went down to her ankles, with a large bang that obscured her left eye. She had plump lips, a small, upturned nose, and dark indigo eyes. She wore a mauve, oversized, off-shoulder tank top with a black bra underneath, along with black leggings with star-shaped cutouts on the knees, with a tear above the left star, and small pointed white boots.

Then weapon she was using was a multi-tailed dark violet whip, with a cross-guard in the form of a lavender star. There were multiple shards of purple gemstones embedded on the main lash, with a large gemstone as the pommel.

However, as she fought off the bugs, Isaac's attention was caught when he saw a gemstone that was located on her chest, and the bottom half of it is usually covered by her shirt.

"'Sup, dude," greeted the purple one. Isaac gave her a small salute before his attention was drawn to yet another strange woman.

This one had a slender, thin build with ivory skin, sky-blue eyes, a pointed nose and thin lips. She looked to be two inches shorter than Isaac. Her hair was a peach color and resembled a pixie-cut in the front, while in the back, her hair leads to a point. Just like the other one, she also had a gemstone, but it was located in the middle of her forehead.

Her clothing consisted of a sleeveless, sky blue top that had a translucent chest and transferred into a transparent silk ballet skirt around her waist. She also wore short salmon pink-colored leggings, light-green socks, and slip-on ballet flats to match.

This woman was elegantly fighting off the bugs like a ballerina with a spear that consisted of a glowing blade with a white grip and a cyan, gold, and white colored pommel shaped like a star. The head of the blade spiraled down the upper shaft, becoming less sharp on the lower shaft.

Though she was just as strange as the others, Isaac couldn't help but think she was very pretty.

"Oh, good. You're awake," said the skinny woman, stabbing a centipede. "That means we'll finally get some answers."

" _You_ get answers?" Isaac exclaimed. "I don't even know where I am, or who any of you are!"

"Hey, guys! You won't believe this!" said a new, much younger voice. Isaac turned his head towards the door of the house and saw a young boy who was relatively short with a thick, stocky build, curly black hair, and full black irises. He wore a pink T-shirt with a gold star in the center of it. He also wore cuffed blue jeans and salmon-pink flip-flop sandals.

The boy looked at Isaac and after a second his eyes filled with excitement. "You awake!" Suddenly a centipede jumped onto him and tried to bite his face off.

This sprung Isaac into action and he jumped at the two. He landed near the boy and used his katana to hack the head of centipede clean off. After that, Isaac offered him his hand, as the boy shared at him with stars in his eyes. "You okay," the young man asked.

The boy took his hand and Isaac helped him up. "You've got a sword!? That's so cool," the boy said with amazement. "Can you do any cool tricks with your gem?"

"Maybe later, but we've got a bigger problem." Isaac turned and placed himself in front of the boy, getting into a fighting stance.

"Awesome!" The kid placed the mini refrigerator he was carrying on his back onto a seat, near the window. "What are these things," he asked, as Isaac stabbed one in the head.

"Me ask first." Isaac snapped, cut another centipede. "First, you got a name, kid?"

"My name is Steven Universe," Steven replied.

Isaac stabbed another one that jumped at him, but left it on his blade as he looked back at Steven with a strange look. "Your last name is Universe?"

"That's right." He then pointed at the maroon one. "That's Garnet." The purple one. "She's Amethyst." The pale one. "And Pearl. What's yours?"

"Uh…"

"Ugh! Steven, what have we said about talking to strangers," Pearl groaned, pulling out a bug from underneath the table and picking it up. "We'll get these Centipeetles out of your room and then we can talk with our guest. We think they were trying to get into the temple."

"Aw. You don't have to get rid of them," Steven said, as he and Isaac walked up to her. "They're really cool." Then, without warning, the Centipeetle that Pearl was holding spat out a green onto the floor near Isaac's feet. It turned out to be acid, as it melted away the floor board. Isaac yelped and leaped back, while Steven and Pearl looked down into the new hole.

Amethyst used her whip to throw a Centipeetle into the wall of the cave in the back. When it poofed, she looked at the others and picked her nose. "Um, you guys? These things don't have gems."

"That means there must be a mother somewhere nearby," Garnet said, walking up next to Isaac and Steven. A Centipeetle snuck up from beside her. Isaac was about to take it out, but she quickly punched without even looking, causing it to poof.

"We should probably find it before anyone gets hurt," Pearl said, still holding the Centipeetle she had as it struggle to break free.

This instantly got Steven. "Oh! Oh! Can I come?! Can I?! can I?!" He asked eagerly.

"Steven, until you learn to control the powers in your gem," said Pearl, and she snapped Centipeetle's neck, "we'll take care of protecting humanity, okay?"

Isaac saw one of the Centipeetle raiding the fridge and ran at it. Cutting it in half swiftly and poofing it, he then closed the door. With his right hand still on the door, he took a moment to pant and catch his breath. He could even feel his heart hammering in his heart. However, it wasn't over, as Isaac noticed something shining to his right. He turned head right, looking at the back of his right hand that he still had on the door of the fridge.

It was still glowing white, and that might only one thing in his experiences; there was danger near him.

"Cool!" Steven said, amazed at Isaac's glowing gem. "I didn't know it can do that! What does it mean?"

Isaac snapped his head left to look at Steven and the women with a glare. He quickly transferred the katana over to his right hand, and he pointed the tip at them. "It means it's time for you and your friends to get back," he said defensively. This surprised Steven and he backed away.

Pearl and Amethyst looked like there were ready to fight, up Garnet raised a hand. This got them to stop for a moment, before she walked up to Isaac. "Please, understand," she said to him in a calm voice, stopping a foot away from the katana. "I know you are scared and confused, but rest assured, we're not the enemy."

"Yeah?" Isaac asked doubtfully and was a bit of sarcasm. "And I'm supposed to take your word for it?" But then out of nowhere, the Onyx in his hand had lost its light. It was now back to its black form. When he saw it, he bewildered how fast it changed from recognizing them as enemies to friendlies. Knowing he wasn't it danger anymore, Isaac made the katana disappear. "Okay…so I guess you're not a threat."

"That was fast," Amethyst said with a fist on her left hip.

"My mom's gem only seems to glow when I'm close to danger," Isaac told her. "Like that monster I fought last night."

Pearl then stepped forward. "So where do all the gems you bubbled go," she asked, before placing a hand on her chin. "We'll have to get them and transfer them over to the Temple."

"Don't know." Isaac shook his head. "I looked everywhere for where they could've gone, but can't find them. But they never seemed to come back, so I figured that they're someplace safe." His expression turned serious as he looked down. "But that's not why I'm here." He then looked at them. "I'm looking for someone. Someone who can help me."

"Well, maybe we can tell you," Steven said with a smile. "It's our job to help all in need!"

"Only if they're in danger," Garnet corrected.

Pearl then asked, "Do you know this person?"

"I never met them, about two weeks ago I was told that if I ever wanted to know who my mother was that I should come here. That there would be a woman here in Beach City that would give me the answers I wanted," Isaac explained. The Gems however shared an uncomfortable glance. If this boy really was like Steven, then they had a pretty good idea of who the stranger before them was looking for.

"Ah, who was it that you're to find," Pearl asked.

"Her name is…" Isaac took a moment to think. "…Rose Quartz."

The moment Isaac said that name, the mood of the room changed to depression. The gems looked down with sad faces. However, Steven was more curious and surprised than sad. "You were looking for my mom," he asked.

Isaac could've felt his heart stop when he heard that. "Your…what?"

"It's true," Garnet said, placing a hand on Steven's hair. "We are Gems, an extraterrestrial species of magical beings." She then looked to the right, and Isaac followed her gaze. Hanging over the front door was a painting of a woman with very long and curly pink hair styled in thick, tube-like ringlets. She also had defined lips with a pale pink color, bright-peach skin, and a tall and heavy build. "Rose Quartz was the leader of our group, the Crystal Gems. Our goal is to seek the protection of the Earth guard humanity from evil." She paused for a moment. "Your mother, Onyx, was one of us."

Steven and Isaac gasped. "His mom was a Crystal Gem too?!" Steven exclaimed with stars in his eyes.

"You knew who my mom was," asked Isaac.

"Yes, but not that much," Pearl said. "She kept mostly to herself and like to be left alone. In battle, she was truly unlike anything I've ever seen. She was strong, swift, and brave. And like Rose, she was a natural leader who cared those under her command. With a little bit of luck on her side. There were many names give to Onyx, but only one truly stuck with her: The Gem of War."

Isaac and Steven, and even Amethyst were left in amazement. "Woah." Then a though hits Isaac and he turned to Steven. "Wait, if Rose gave birth to you, does that mean that she also…"

"She gave up her physical form to bring me into the world," Steven said, pulling up his pink shirt to show Isaac a pink rose quartz gemstone where his belly button should be. "Was it the same with your mom?"

"Yeah. That really all anyone would tell me," Isaac said with a shrug. "No one would tell me anything about my mother, either because they can't, or they didn't know that much about her to tell me. But what they did tell me was that she wanted me to have a normal life. I didn't know what they meant by that, but now I think I know now."

"Sooooo, what are we going to do," asked Amethyst.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've learned about your mother," Pearl started off. "You know about us and we know about you. You're also just like Steven. What do we from here onwards, uh… I'm sorry, we didn't even ask for your name."

"It's Isaac. Isaac Infinite." Isaac introduced himself. "And I figure I should be heading home. I'm…not really sure what I'm going to do then."

"Oh, I know!" Steven exclaimed with excitement. "You can join the Crystal Gems!"

"What?" Isaac asked.

"What?" Pearl asked loudly.

"That sound awesome!" Amethyst exclaimed with a big grin on her face. "It'll be way much cooler with a fifth member with us."

Isaac, however was unsure of it and scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. I never really came here to be a part of something," he told them. "Then again, I don't know what to do with myself now that I know the truth."

Garnet placed a hand on his shoulder, and Isaac looked at her. "How about we give you to the end of today to figure it out," she offered. "We're not going to force you into anything you don't want to do."

"And in the meantime, we can stay here and eat some popsicles," Steven said as he went over to the refrigerator. But when he opened the freezer door, he gasped, and his eyes widened with stars in them again. Isaac wanted to know what was going on, so he looked in the freezer too. When he did, he gasped, his eyes widened and had stars in them too.

The inside of the freeze was filled with Cookie Cat ice cream sandwiches. They were these delicious ice sandwiches that had half vanilla ice cream on the left and half strawberry ice cream on the right. All in between cookies that is shaped like a cat's head.

"Holy mother of Satan," Isaac whispered in amazement. "Dibs!" He reached in and grabbed one of the Cookie Cats.

"You like Cook Cats too," asked Steven as he followed his example and grabbed one too. Isaac then shut the fridge.

"Are you kidding me, I love these things!" Isaac looked at Pearl. "Where did you get these?! I thought they stopped making them!"

"Well, we heard that, too," Pearl said with a smile, "but we wanted to surprise Steven since they were his favorite, so…"

"We went out and _stole_ a bunch," Amethyst proclaimed as she hopped onto the bar.

"What!?" Isaac shouted with a look of horror.

Pearl grunted at Amethyst angrily. "I went back and _paid_ for them," she corrected.

"How does that make it any better!? You already stole the damn things!"

"The whole thing was _my_ idea," Garnet then claimed.

"So, it was _everyone_ 's idea?!" Isaac exclaimed.

"Not really."

"All that matters is that Steven is happy," Pearl said, looking at Steven with a smile. However, Steven was too busy staring at the pink wrapper covered ice cream. Suddenly he began to sing.

"Oh, please don't sing that song," Isaac groaned in annoyance.

" _Oohhhhh!"_

" _He's a frozen treat with an all new taste!"_

" _'cause he came to this planet from outer space!"_

" _A refugee of an interstellar war!"_

" _But now he's at your local grocery store!"_

" _Cookie Cat!"_

" _He's a pet for your tummy!"_

" _Cookie Cat!"_

" _He's super-duper yummy!"_

" _Cookie Cat!"_

" _He left his family behind!"_

" _Cookie Caaaaat!"_

" _Now available at Gurgens off Route 109!"_

"God, I hate that song," Isaac grunted, while the Gems burst out in laughter and applauded.

"I can't believe you did this. I'm gonna save these forever!" Steven proclaimed. "Right after I eat this one." The boy then ripped open the wrapper and pulled out the ice cream sandwich. "Hello, old friend." He then bit into it.

Isaac followed suit and opened his Cookie Cat. He was about to enjoy it, when something started to glow. He looked, and his eyes widened in amazement when he saw it was coming from Steven's gem, under his shirt, as the boy chewed his desert. "Uh, Steven...what's going on with your gem?"

"Wha-?" Steven quickly lifted up his shirt and saw his gem glowing. "My gem!"

"Quick, try and summon your weapon!" Amethyst encouraged the young boy.

"I don't know how!" The gem was starting to lose its glow, causing Steven to panic. He grabbed his head and jumped between his feet. "Ah, it's fading! How do I make it come back?!"

"Calm down, Steven," Pearl said in a soothing voice, but Steven was anything but calm. "Breathe, don't force it."

"Yeah, and try not to poop yourself either," Amethyst joked.

"Please, don't," Garnet said.

Soon the gem's glowing faded away. The gems and Steven sighed in dismay, as the boy slides down on his butt.

"Ah, I was really close that time!" Steven puts the Cookie Cat he was eating away in its wrapper, before looking at Isaac, who was eating his ice cream while watching. "You're just like me, Isaac. How do you do it? Can you explain how to summon a weapon?"

"It's not that easy, Steven," he said with a mouth full of the last bit of Cookie Cat. He then swallowed. "I'm still trying to finger out how to do it too. Most of the time, I'm only able to summon it whenever a monster or some threat is near me." He then looked at the Gems. "Maybe one of you can explain how to summon a weapon?"

"Oh, I'll go first!" Pearl said in a singing voice. She then headed for the door of the house. "Follow me!" Steven excited ran after her, while Isaac walked.

As they exited the house, they stepped onto a balcony/deck and headed down some stairs. They then went down a grassy past that led to the beach.

After stepping on the sand, Isaac took a moment to look back at the house, but was instead left in wonder and astonishment by what was behind the house.

Carved and sculpted into the face of the cliff was a giant statue of a strange and yet beautiful woman. This was the face of the Crystal Temple. The giant woman had four pairs of arms with 4 arms spread out, and the other four converge around the house's sides, which rested on the figure's navel. Of the four spread-out arms, only the top-right arm had an intact hand and the broken-off remains of the other hands can be seen sticking out of the beach sands in front of the Temple.

"Whoa," Isaac said with amazement.

"Isaac, come on!" Steven called to him. Isaac glanced at the Temple one last time, and then ran off to join the boy and Pearl.

* * *

Later, Pearl took the two boys out to a hill that had a full-grown cherry blossom tree that was in bloom, with bright pink blossoms filling its branches and dark-colored bark.

As they walked up to the tree, Isaac stopped for a moment to admire the beauty of the area, as the petals falling continuously around them. "Woah," he breathed with a smile.

"Beautiful, isn't it, Isaac," Pearl said, glad that he was able to see the beauty of this place. "Out of all the trees on this planet, this is still my favorite tree."

Isaac nodded. "You know how to pick it." He then joined Steven on the ground and sat down on his knees.

"Pay attention to these petals, Steven and Isaac," Pearl told them. The two then watch one of the petals fall. "The petals' dance _seems_ improvised, but it is being calculated in real time based on the physical properties of this planet." When it lands, they looked back at Pearl. "With hard work and dedication, you can master the magical properties of your gems and perform your _own_ dance!"

She then placed her hands near her gem and it glowed, before she summoned her spear. With the handle and blade shorter than its original form, Pearl grabbed the weapon and the spear head extended, before she treadled it around and the handle extended. Afterwards, she placed the butt of the spear to the ground and did a pose.

Confident, Pearl opened her hand and let a petal off into it. "Like so."

"…So, we dance," Isaac asked, while Steven picked up a handful of petals.

* * *

After leaving, Isaac and Steven then head to Amethyst, who is behind the Big Donut eating a donut. While on their way, Steven's been trying to do what Pearl explained to them by tossing the petals into the air to get his gem to glow again.

When they arrived at the Big Donut, Steven did it again. Tossing the petals up and letting them fall. Amethyst and Isaac stood by and watched him. "Kid, you can stop now," Isaac said. "It's not going to work."

"Let me guess, Pearl told you the _'petal thing'_." Amethyst guessed correctly.

"Yeah, she said that we have to calculate some kind of dance…" Isaac paused to think for a moment. "…wait, many it was something to do with trees."

"Listen Isaac, all that practice stuff is no fun," the short Gem told the young man, as Steven stopped to pay attention. Amethyst then stuffed her face with the donut and talked with her mouth full. "Whenever I _need_ to summon my weapon, it just happens."

She demonstrated by putting her fist to her gem, causing it to glow, before pulling out her whip. Amethyst then swung it and sliced a nearby dumpster in half.

"See? Didn't try at all."

"But my weapon _does_ come out whenever I need it," Isaac explained. "But it's only able to when danger is near. I'm trying to figure out how to summon it willingly."

"Huh?!" He was interrupted when some guy around his age came out from the back to the Big Donut. The guy freaked out when he saw the dumpster destroyed and dropped the trash bag he was carrying. "Again?!"

"Run." Isaac and Steven ran away.

* * *

With Pearl only confusing them, and Amethyst being of no help at all, Isaac and Steven made their way to Garnet. This, however, involved a long hike up the cliff to get to top, which is also the top of the Temple.

When they got there, the two humans stood in front of Garnet. To their left was a lighthouse, and to their right was the edge of the cliff. "So, I'm supposed to work really hard and not try at all at the same time," Steven asked the tall Gem.

"Yes." Garnet simply said.

"Wait, so which is it," asked Isaac.

"Both. Or..." Garnet raised her hands, showing Isaac and Steven her gems, before making the stones glow. "…you could link your mind with the energy of all existing matter. Channeling the collective power of the universe through your gem, which results in—" She swung her arms and hands around in a kind of dance, before summoning her gauntlets. "At least that's my way of doin' it."

"…" Steven and Isaac just stood there, still not understanding anything the gems were telling them. Then Isaac walked away.

* * *

"Well, that was a waste of time," Isaac grunted, making sure that he had everything in his backpack. After no real development, he figured that it would be best for him to head back home.

"No, Isaac! Wait!" Steven exclaimed, desperately wanting for the teen to stay with him and the Gems. "Th-There must be some way we can summon are weapons!"

Isaac placed his pack on the couch and looked at him. "How? We tried everything?"

Steven crossed his arms and placed a hand on his chin, thinking for a moment. "I think my best bet is to recreate what happened the last time my gem glowed. So..." He pointed and had Garnet and Amethyst go back to where they were when his gem glowed. "Garnet and Amethyst were here." He then pointed at Pearl. "Pearl and Isaac where next to the fridge." Isaac stood up and walked over to her. "Hmm. Amethyst, I think your arms were crossed?"

"Kid, I don't think it has to be completely accurate," Isaac pointed out.

Steven then opened the freezer and pulled out the Cookie Cat he was eating before. Discarding the wrapper, he said, "Then I took a bite of this Cookie Cat. Oh, wait! I sang the song first. Uh, he's a frozen treat, all new taste, interstellar war, now available at Ghurven's."

Silence as nothing happened.

"Aww, it was funnier last time." He pulled up his shirt to look at his gem. It wasn't glowing. After failing to understand what to do, Steven sighed. "Maybe I'm not a real Crystal Gem."

Pearl bent down next to him. "Don't be silly, Steven," she said to make him feel better. "Of course, you are."

"And you're fun to have around, even if your gem _is_ useless," Amethyst joked. Pearl glared angrily at her. "I... mean, you're one of us, Steven. We're not the Crystal Gems without you!"

Garnet nodded.

"It took me a long time to learn the thinks I can do, Steven," Isaac said, pitching in to encourage the boy with a smile. "It wasn't easy, and I'm not sure if I've learned all I can do. But you've got the Gems to get you through it."

This was enough to ease Steven's doubts and he smiled. "Yeah, even if I don't have powers, I've still got... Cookie Cat!" He took a bite and enjoyed the treat. "Mmm, so good." But then, to everyone's amazement, his gem suddenly started glowing brighter than it did before.

After a moment, it glowed to the point where it was a bright flash of light. Isaac quickly covered his eyes to protect them from the light. When it was over, he removed his arm from his face and looked at Steven. His eyes widened, and he gasped.

Steven's weapon was finally revealed: a spiraled pink shield. The spiral on the shield was decorated with light pink rose thorns, and its center symbol is shaped like a rose.

The gems also gasped in shock, as they stared at the spiraling shield. "Steven, it's a shield!" Pearl whispered in amazement.

Steven opened his eyes, and he too was left in amazement. "Whoa, what?! I get a shield?! Oooh... yeah!" But as he cheered, he lost control and accidentally launched his shield. The weapon bounced and ricocheted around the room, before it stopped when it smashed into the TV.

"Holy shit," Isaac said with wide eyes, while Amethyst burst out laughing while Pearl put her hand to her head and groaned. "How did you do that?"

"Huh?" Steven looked at the ice cream sandwich he was eating. "Cookie Cat!" He then held it up and exclaimed happily. "I summon my weapon by eating ice cream!"

"That's stupid," Isaac said, as Pearl picked up the wrapper and looked at its ingredients.

"What's _in_ these things," she asked.

"All the sugar a kid could want," Isaac joked with a chuckled, but stopped something else started to glow brightly. He looked down and saw that it was his Onyx glowing. "Oh no."

The ground suddenly started rumbling, causing the house to shake also. Isaac spread his feet to steady himself from tripping out. He looked at the window near the bed and saw the silhouettes of the Centipeetles crawling up the side of the house. However, they paled in comparison to a much larger figure that crawled on the outside of the house. The pink shield disappeared.

Isaac reacted by running to the door and swinging it open. He jumped onto the balcony and turned around. Looking upwards, he was shocked to see that the thing was a giant Centipeetle monster roughly thirteen visible dark-green segments that each bared one pair of similarly colored legs. The final segment at the end bared no legs, but what appeared to be a pair of mandibles. The head was composed primarily of a large pair of jaws/mandibles with an eyeball in the mouth. It also featured a green crystal protuberance at the base of the head that formed a broken horn-like structure, along with a flowing, light-cream colored mane immediately behind her head.

"Oh man," Isaac gasped with wide eyes, as the creature climbed up the Temple. He's only had to fight smaller monster and the largest of them was the size of a bear! This was beyond anything he's faced.

"It's the Mother!" Garnet exclaimed, standing next to Isaac. He turned his head to her and watched as she leaped up the statue towards the monster.

"Steven!" Isaac looked at Pearl as she and Amethyst were out of the house. "Stay _in_ the house!"

"No way, I'm coming too!" Steven proclaimed and ran back inside for something.

"Do as you're told!" Isaac yelled at him inside. Garnet suddenly jumped down onto the roof of the house and then jumped off. The Centipeetle Mother followed after her, landing on the roof and then crawling off. Isaac ducked down to avoid the creature's body. When it passed over, Pearl and Amethyst jumped over it and joined Garnet.

Isaac stood up and looked from the deck as the Crystal Gems stood in front of the monster on the beach. The Centipeetle roared and shot out acid at them. The Gems dodged, and then ran over to hide behind one of the statue's broken off hands.

"I'm here!" Hearing Steven's voice shouting out, Isaac looked and saw the young boy running out of the house carrying the Cookie Cat freezer, which was filled with the ice cream sandwiches, and attracted to many extension cords. "I can help too!" Steven exclaimed, and was about to run down the steps. However, Isaac grabbed him by the arm and easily pulled him back.

"No! It's too dangerous!" He told Steven.

"But they're in trouble!"

"That's why I'm going out there," Isaac said in a stern tone. "You say here and don't do anything stupid!"

Isaac then leaped onto the railing and then jumped off them. Falling down to the ground, where he tucked and rolled upon landing. He quickly stood up and summoned his weapon and rushed at the monster. As the Centipeetle was busy spitting acid at the hand the Gems were hiding behind, the son of Onyx went to the one of the legs at the end and cut it off.

The Centipeetle shrieked in anguish, before turning around to look at Isaac. "YEAH, COME ON! OVER HERE!" He yelled at the bug and waved his arms, trying to get it away from the Gems so that they can get back into the fight. He then placed his left hand to his gem, and summon another katana. "Come on, ugly! Come this way!"

"Isaac, no!" The Crystal Gems called out to him, still hiding behind the now melting stone hand. The Centipeetle roared and turned its body around to face him. Now with two swords, Isaac was ready for battle.

With its mandibles drooling with acid, the Centipeetle lunged its head at Isaac. Isaac reacted quickly and jumped to the left. The monster snapped when he landed on his feet, so the human quickly slashed its head with the right sword and stabbed into where the mane came from with the left one. The mother cried out in agony.

It quickly brought its head back up, and sprayed acid at him. Isaac quickly ran out of the way of the attack. He looked up at the monster, and saw its head coming at him to bite at him again.

Isaac quickly jumped back to the right of its head. He then started slashing both katanas at it.

"He's actually doing it," Pearl said in amazement. Isaac was showing no fear as he leaped back from it snapping its jaws at him. "He'll need our help!"

But she quickly ducked back behind the hand when the back mandibles bit off the top of the fingers.

"Can we save ourselves first?!" Amethyst exclaimed.

Isaac looked at where they were for a moment, but this proved to distract him. The Centipeetle used its head to hit Isaac and knock him away.

The human grunted when his back hit the ground. He opened his eyes and looked up. The Centipeetle was approaching him, jaws dripping with acid, staring down at the young man with the intent to kill.

Garnet looked over the edge of the stone hand and saw him in trouble. "Isaac!" She would have jumped out and helped the human, but she was stopped when the Mother's pincers were going to clamp down on her. She was forced to hold them back from.

The Centipeetle reared its head back, its mouth flowing with acid. It was just about to spit it out at Isaac and kill him, when a large peddle was chucked at it. Then the rock hits the Mother in the head. It turned its head towards the person who threw it.

It was Steven! The boy planted the freezer he carried into the sand and then stood tall and proud against Centipeetle. "Leave them alone!"

"Are you crazy, kid!?" Isaac yelled at him. Was this all fun and games with the boy?

"Cookie Cat Crystal combo powers, activate!" Steven shouted before taking a bite of one of the Cookie Cakes.

The Centipeetle moved away from Isaac, and went over to Steven. Fearing for the kid's safety, Isaac yelled, "Steven, get out of there!"

Steven didn't listen and chewed the ice cream faster, before pulling up his shirt. He was expecting the shield to appear again.

But nothing happened.

"Uh-oh." Steven didn't have any time to move, as the Centipeetle lunged its jaws at him. "Aaaah!" He screamed, held up his arms, and shut his eyes.

 _STAB! STAB!_

The Gems gasped.

Steven wasn't dead. And he wasn't hurt in any way, so he lowered his arms and opened his eyes.

Isaac had moved in front of him at the last minute to protect him. With his right foot holding down the lower mandible, as he held up the upper one with his katanas, Isaac held the jaws up, while using his left on the ground to push against the Centipeetle's head.

Steven looked at him with star-eyes amazement. "Isaac…"

Isaac glared hatefully at the eye of the Centipeetle. But he then noticed that the pupil of it was the gem: a circular in shape gemstone and colored light green with dark green contour lines surrounding the circumference of the gem, connecting to a circular shape.

Know where it was, Isaac came up with an idea that would be possibly the most reckless and idiotic thing he'll ever do. "Get away from him, you bitch!" He yelled, and stabbed his right katana right inside the upper jaw.

The Mother shrieked in total agony, yanking its head back.

"Woah!" Isaac's sword was pulled from the jaw and he was almost flung right out, but he hung on when he quickly dropped the katanas and grabbed onto the teeth of the lower mandibles. The Centipeetle closed its jaws to cut off his fingers, but Isaac quickly swung himself forward and let go before he lost his fingers. He then grabbed onto mane.

The pincer that had kept the Gems pinned down went away, as the Centipeetle shook its head to get him off. "We've got to save him!" Pearl exclaimed. Despite knowing Isaac for only a day, she couldn't let him die when they could help.

She and Amethyst were about to run over to help, but then Garnet stopped them when she grabbed their shoulders and pulled them back. "No."

"What?!" Pearl asked incredulously.

"I've seen much of his mom in his eyes," Garnet told Pearl.

Isaac had climbed the mane all the way to the top of the head. He summoned his katana again in a reverse grip, and raised it over his head. Suddenly, the Centipeetle yanked its head up, and the human was set flying upwards.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Isaac screamed as he was sent flying, before starting to fall. He looked down and saw the Centipeetle Mother waiting for him, jaws open as if it was going to eat him.

But Isaac saw this as an opportunity. He can still do this, and readied his katana.

He fell right into the monster's mouth and it shut close.

Suddenly the whole monster exploded into a giant green poof cloud.

Isaac impact with the sandy beach wasn't as hard, but he still grunted in pant when he landed on his back. He panted as he stared up at the afternoon sky, his arms and legs spread out, and his sword disappearing as his gem stopped glowing. After a moment he started to chuckle lightly, before laughing out loud and closing eyes. "I did it! I actually did it!" He shouted in victory, sitting up and throwing his fists up. "I am awesome!"

Steven and the Gems ran up to him. Steven then jumped on him and hugged him tightly. "Isaac that was amazing!" He exclaimed with a big grin. "You were so cool and epic! Swinging your swords, climbing on that monster!"

"Yeah, man!" Amethyst punched him in the arm, making Isaac yelp and rub his arm as he glared at her. "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!"

"It wasn't! It was _beyond_ reckless!" Pearl exclaimed in disapproval. "You were formless, wildly attacking, and you could have gotten yourself killed." Isaac looked down, before Pearl smiled. "But I will admit, it you were a very impressive fighter."

Isaac's head quickly looked at her with wide eyes. Garnet then stepped forward with the Centipeetle bubbled. "You were great, out there, Isaac," she said with what could be the first time he's ever seen her smile today. She tapped the bubble and it disappeared. "Your mother would've been proud."

Isaac stared at her in astonishment before smiling and nodding. "Thanks guys," he said, before standing up.

"Well, I guess you'll be going back home," Steven said with a sad face.

Isaac looked down at Steven, and then looked at the Gems. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl stared at him, wait for him to make a decision. He already got what he came here for, what else was there for him here?

Then again, what else was there for him out there? More traveling and hunting down monsters, without a real home? "You know, I'm still trying to learn things about myself," he said to the boy, who picked his head up and looked at him. "Why don't we finger it out together?"

Steven gasped with joy, before hugging his legs, which took Isaac by surprise. Amethyst laughed heartily, Pearl smiled and nodded, and Garnet gave him a thumbs up.

Isaac responded with a smile of his own. He had a feeling that this was going to be a good thing.

* * *

Later that night as the moon was fully out, The Crystal Gems were together, alone on at the top of the cliff, near the edge of the Temple. Garnet was standing at the edge looking out at the sea, Pearl was pacing back and forth behind her thinking, and Amethyst was sitting on the edge kicking her feet.

"So…the Gem of War had a child," Garnet said, finally bringing up the very thing that was on their mind.

"It'll be fun to have another human around to mess with. Hehehe." Amethyst said with a carefree smile.

"Amethyst, this is serious," Pearl said with a glare, stopping her pacing.

"Come on, P! Isaac's cool. He can fight. He's nice to Steven. And he saved our asses," Amethyst told them. Over the years, she started using the same vulgar language that human used. "Besides, his mom is the _Gem of War_!"

"There's a _reason_ why she was called that."

"Yeah, the war Rose started to get Homeworld away from this planet." Amethyst shrugged. "But if what you said was true, then Onyx must have been awesome."

Pearl didn't respond and looked away. Garnet didn't reply either, only tilting her head down.

Seeing them act like that, Amethyst started to get a bad feeling and looked upset at them. "You…You did tell Isaac the true, right," she questioned them, standing up.

"We did," Pearl assured her. "But…"

"There was much about herself that Onyx didn't want Isaac to know," Garnet told Amethyst, and the other two Gems looked at her. "That's why she came to see Rose before his birth. Onyx wanted to spare Isaac from the pain that would come from knowing who she was. And _what_ she was. She wanted Isaac to be human."

"But he's not just a human." Pearl sighed sadly. "We knew this day would come. When he would come looking for us. And now…It just doesn't feel right keeping the truth from him."

"Onyx knew that it can't stay hidden, and knew he'll find out in time. _We_ don't even know the whole truth, only Rose did. For now, we'll allow him to figure it out. But it's like Rose said, who she was before doesn't matter, Isaac isn't her past, he's her son," Garnet recited their leader's words of wisdom. "And nothing would ever change that."

Pearl and Amethyst glance at each other unsurely, but in an action rarely seen from the two, they nodded in agreeance. They then joined Garnet at the edge, and stared out at the sea. As they did, there was now only one thing on their minds.

What will change, and what will stay the same?

* * *

 **AN:**

 **And that ends the first part of "Gem of War"!**

 **I know that the show has a lot of theorist that like to theorize things about Steven Universe, so if you want to for this fanfic, go right ahead. What is going on? Who is Onyx? And why does she not want Isaac to know about her? All will be answered, but I do like to see what you guys come up with.**

 **Steven is the shield, and Isaac is the sword! As they are the main focus of the story, I wanted for Isaac and Steven's relationship to be something unique and special. I'm thinking about it starting out as somewhat similar to Church and Caboose from** _ **Red vs Blue,**_ **with Steven continuing to be himself, and Isaac getting annoyed by him, but does like him. And as the story goes on, their friendship turns into a brotherhood.**

 **As for Isaac and Pearl, I'm going to take my time and have them truly grow closer before having them fall love.**

 **For how I'm going to do each update, I'm going to do two chapters each time for this story, as the normal** _ **Steven**_ _ **Universe**_ **episode is short, and it'll be better to just release two chapters at once. I'm sure as hell am not going to do any of the filler episodes that don't contribute to the story at all, as the creator seems to really like doing. If there's an episode you want me to skip over, let me know.**

 **That's it for now. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and if you want me to keep doing this story, then please leave a REVIEW. I would really appreciate it if you do. If you any questions or decisions you'd have for me, then please PM me.**

 **Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.**


	2. Act One: Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: Laser Light Cannon**_

"Come on, Isaac!" Steven called as he and Amethyst ran across the beach towards town.

"I'm coming!" Isaac exclaimed, as he ran after them, as the sun started to go down over the horizon. It's now been two days since the blonde decided to stay in Beach City with Steven and the Crystal Gems, and things were going well for him. Yesterday was mostly normal, but it gave Isaac some time to get to know the Gems.

He found Steven to be an optimistic, friendly, outgoing, soft-hearted and carefree boy with a happy-go-lucky attitude that could make anyone smile. He was naïve about many things, but he was determined to prove himself as a Crystal Gem, which Isaac can easily relate to, being new to the team.

Amethyst was like the little sister of the Gems. She was fun-loving and carefree. Loud and full of laughter, she was easily amused and very impulsive. Bad-mannered, untidy, and a bit lazy. Despite all of that, Isaac knew she was a good person and meant well.

Garnet was almost an enigma to Isaac. She was probably the most pragmatic and straightforward of the Crystal Gems, but she's almost like a motherly figure to Steven.

And lastly, Isaac saw as Pearl was a perfectionist, who was knowledgeable on a plethora of topics and values organization. She had a penchant for symmetry, as was the case when she asked why Isaac only had his chain tattoo on one arm and didn't have one like it on the other, and a very high attention to detail.

All in all, they were an odd group and a lot of personality. And that's why Isaac likes being with them.

As he followed, Isaac saw Steven and Amethyst ran off the beach and onto the boardwalk. There, they ran up to a fast-food restaurant called 'Beach Citywalk Fries'. "Hey, Fryman, give me the bits!" Steven ordered, slamming his hands on the table.

Isaac was able to catch up and looked at Mr. Fryman, as he flipped the Open sign to Close. He was quite tall with a thick build. He had a dijon-colored short beard, black eyes, and thick rosewood-colored eyebrows. He sported a fry-shaped hairdo with a red visor hat and wore a light dull red T-shirt and white apron. He also wore a pair of dark-gray shorts and yellow shoes. "Steven! We're closed," he told the boy.

"Aww, what?" Steven looked disappointed.

"We'll just come back tomorrow," Isaac told him. But then Amethyst suddenly hit the counter with her fists.

"Give 'em the bits!" She then started chanting while continuously hitting the counter. "The bits, the bits..."

Isaac looked at her with a stern. "Amethyst, he's not going to do it just because you're hitting his—" He was interrupted when Steven joined in with her.

"The BITS! The BITS! The BITS!" The two chanted as they banged hard on the counter.

"Okay, okay!" Mr. Fryman said, finally caving in to their demands. "Take it easy on the counter, will ya?" He then went to cook the fry bits.

"Yes!" Steven and Amethyst cheered to each other and high-fived, while Isaac didn't look all too happy with them.

"Not cool, guys," he told them.

Mr. Fryman then came back with the bag of fry bits. "I can give you actual fries if you want," he told Steven.

"Just the bits, please," Steven said, before taking the bag. "Thanks." Afterwards the trio turned and walked away. Amethyst put her hand in the bag and picked out a handful of bits. As the two of them ate, Isaac just smiled and walked with them. "Ah, sunset, my favorite time of day. When the sun goes down—"

He was cut off when Isaac stopped and held out his arm in front of Steven, getting him and Amethyst to stop too. The young man was looking at the horizon.

"What's up," Steven asked, picking out another handful of bit and ate them.

Isaac's face expressed disbelief. "Don't look now, but there's a _second sun_ in the sky getting bigger and bigger in the sky." He pointed at a spherical object in the sky that was cream colored and had a segmented body.

When Steven and Amethyst turned their heads to look at it, Steven was amazed. However the short Gem gasped. "Oh no, what is _that_ doing here," she asked, alerted.

"What is it," asked Steven. Instead of answering, Amethyst grabbed Steven and picked him up, making him drop his bits. "Ah, my bits!"

"Let's go, Isaac!" Amethyst started running down the beach, still holding up Steven.

Isaac was confused and anxious, but followed after her. "What, wait! What is that thing!?" He exclaimed before looking at his gem. It was glowing, meaning that whatever the thing was, it wasn't friendly.

Meanwhile, Garnet and Pearl were on the beach near the Temple, already investigating the sphere object. "This is bad," said Garnet as she stared up at it, while Pearl looking through a telescope.

"Look at the _size_ of it, I had no idea these things were so _big_!" Pearl said.

"Garnet! Pearl!" The two said Gems looked behind themselves and saw Amethyst running towards them carrying Steven, with Isaac close behind.

Pearl turned away from the telescope. "We saw. _Some_ of us are trying to protect humanity." She said to Amethyst before angrily asking, "Where were you?"

Amethyst put Steven down. "... Eating fry bits."

Pearl sighed exasperatedly and slammed her forehead. Isaac took the opportunity to go past her and walked up to the telescope. He angled it at the object and peered into it. "Woah. What is thaaaaaAAAAHHH!"

He screamed when the sphere opened into a massive, red-orange eye. It had a light orange hexagonal iris with a red-orange, aperture-like "pupil" of the same shape. Its body—or sclera—is orange and that those cream colors segments were covers that were like the eyelid.

Freaked out, Isaac quickly backed away and shakenly pointed at the telescope. "That fucking eyeball was looking at me, man!"

"Language!" Pearl snapped angrily, not wanting for Steven to hear the foul language humans made up. Isaac agreed not to cuss in front of the boy, but he let that time slip out. "And it's not eyeball, it's a Red Eye!"

"A Red Eye?!" Steven exclaimed in panic. "It's going to infect us all!"

"That's _pink_ eye, Steven," Garnet corrected him, and Amethyst laughed.

"What do those things even do," Isaac asked.

"They're meant for resonance," explained Pearl. "It's going to crash into Beach City and _crush_ us, along with a bunch of oblivious, innocent people! We _have_ to stop it."

"How!?" Isaac threw up his arms. "Do we even have anything power enough to destroy it?"

"We did at one time," said Garnet, adjusting her shades. "A Light Cannon that belonged to Rose Quartz."

"My mom," asked Steven.

"If Rose were here, this would be _so_ easy," Amethyst moaned angrily.

"I know, but she's not, and the cannon is missing," Pearl explained, sad with the fact that Rose wasn't with them. "We'll have to find another solution."

"What about my mom," Isaac asked, wondering if she had anything they could use. "I sure she's got something."

"I'm afraid not," Pearl regretfully told him, knowing that all he wanted was to help. "Onyx was more of a swordfighter than anything and didn't have much with her."

Isaac sighed, disappointed that he couldn't be of help to them. But then Steven got an idea. "If it belonged to my mom, I bet my dad knows where it is," he said, before getting excited and got star-eyed. "He can help us save the day!" However, instead of approval and encouragement, he was met with silence. "Huh? Eah?!"

"Greg is... _nice_ , Steven," Pearl said, but it seemed like she was sugarcoating it, "but I doubt Rose would entrust someone like _him_ with such a powerful weapon.

"What's wrong with Greg," asked Isaac.

Amethyst patted Steven on the back. "His dad is kind of a mess, Isaac," she said blatantly.

"AMETHYST!" Pearl scolded her.

"I'm just sayin', even if she _did_ leave it with him, he probably broke it, or lost it, or dropped it in the ocean by now."

Garnet nodded. "True."

"Well, weather you like him or not doesn't matter," Isaac said sternly. "We need to do something. If the cannon is our only opponent, then we're going to get."

"Yeah, I'm sure he's just keeping it somewhere safe," Steven said with a smile. "I'll go ask him."

He and Isaac were about to leave when Garnet stopped them. "We can handle this, you two." She then walked up to Amethyst. "Ready?"

Amethyst nodded with a determined look. Garnet then picked her up and jump high up. She spun around rapidly, and tossed the short Gem right at the Red Eye with all her strength. Amethyst yelled as she flew right at the Red Eye, going very far from the beach. However, she didn't do anything to it. Only smacked into it and then fell into the ocean.

"…We'll go get the cannon," Isaac said, and then the two humans ran off.

"... Okay, good luck," Pearl said half-heartedly, staring at the Red Eye.

As they ran across the beach, Steven turned his head at Isaac and said, "Hey, thanks for staying up for my dad."

"No problem, kid," Isaac with a smile. "I mean, we don't really have much of a choice. And I don't want to die young. So why don't you live with him?"

"The Gems don't want him around. They say that it's too dangerous for him."

Isaac also had the idea that they didn't want him around because of what happened to Rose. "So where does he live?"

"In his van at the carwash," Steven answer.

The instant he said that, Isaac stopped while the boy kept on ran. The son of Onyx stood there for a moment to process what he's been told before running after Steven. "Wait, his _what?!"_

* * *

About a minute later, the two approached the carwash. As Steven rushed towards it, Isaac stopped for a look at the building.

The It's a Wash carwash housed a logo with an elephant presumably dousing itself with water and the business name on it. It had two main sections with the carwash being in an 'L' shape and what seemed to be an office space being allocated adjoining to the wash.

"Isaac over here!" Steven got his attention and Isaac saw the young boy standing next to a van. It appeared to be a white mid-1970's Dodge Tradesman with an elaborate custom paint job; an outer-space mural with asteroids, shooting stars, and planets combined with a purple and white logo that said 'Mr. Universe' and red, orange, and blue stripes. "This is his van!" The boy exclaimed, before beginning to bang on the back doors. "Dad, it's me!"

"Who _is_ your dad, kid," Isaac asked, knowing that that paintjob wasn't for the hell of it. Or maybe it was.

"Dad, are you in there?" Steven called for his dad, continuing to bang against the door. He then stopped and backed up, and then rammed himself against the doors. "Wake up! We have to save... the—WORLD!" He ended that sentence by ramming into the van again

"Kid, I don't think that's going to work." Isaac tried to tell him, then Steven climbed up on top of the van.

"Dad!" Steven yelled and started jumping up and down on the roof of the van.

"Woah, kid, stop that!" Isaac scolded him. "You're gonna—" Steven tripped and fell back on the roof, which set off the car alarm. Suddenly, the man known as Greg Universe burst angrily out of the van, armed with a waffle iron.

He was a plump middle-aged man with a dark-beige beard surrounding his mouth, taupe hair styled in a mullet that went down to his waist, with a large bald spot on the top of his head. He had a tan line on his shoulders and feet, bushy taupe eyebrows, and his skin color was a peachy red color, with the tan line spotted being a light apricot color. Greg was wearing a white tank top, with long gray pants and was barefooted.

When he saw Isaac, he glared at him and started waving the waffle iron at him. "Hey, get out of here! I'm not afraid to use this!"

"Woah! Woah, man!" Isaac exclaimed, holding up his hand in surrender. "Be cool man, be cool! I'm not here to harm you!"

"Dad, stop! He's my friend!" Steven exclaimed from on top of the van.

Greg turned around and looked up at Steven, dropping the iron. He squinted and blinked, before taking out his keys and turning off the blaring car alarm. "Steven?" Steven smiled and jumped down from the van. He ran up to him, and father and son hugged. It warmed Isaac's heart to see the two of them like that, and he smiled. Greg pulled away from his son and said, "I almost waffled your face! What are you doing up so late, and…" he pointed at Isaac. "…who's this."

"Uh, hi, I'm a friend of your son," Isaac said politely, feeling a little awkward.

"He's a Gem just like me!" Steven said.

Greg's eye's widened. "Wait, what?" He turned to Isaac, and the young man showed him the back of his right hand. "Whoa! That's amazing!" His amazement then turned to embarrassment, and he chuckled nervously. "Uh, sorry about trying to waffle you there. I'm Greg. Greg Universe."

The two men shook hands. "Isaac Infinite, son of Onyx," he said with a smile. Then he dropped the smile for a serious expression. "Actually, we're here because we need your help."

"What is it," Greg asked, before panicking a little. "Is the government after you two!?"

"No! No!" Steven waved his hands to calm his dad. "I need the light cannon that belonged to Mom, to blow up that eyeball!" He then pointed at the Red Eye.

"Eyeball?"

" _That!"_ Isaac pointed at the Red Eye. Greg looked at the Red Eye, just as Amethyst was sent flying towards it. But just like last time, she hit it face-first before falling back into the ocean.

"Wait, is that a magical thing," Greg asked. "The Gems told me not to get involved with magic stuff. It... it could be dangerous or interfere with what's left of my hair." He rubbed the back of his hair.

"But they need Mom's cannon. You've gotta know where it is, like a cave dungeon or a cloud fortress, or in a clam at the bottom of the ocean!" Steven listen off all the fictional places that the Cannon could be, as Greg picked up the waffle iron and threw it back into the van, before closing the doors.

"You're still talking about your mom, right kid?" Isaac asked with a joking voice, though the chance of Greg having all of those things were _extremely_ low for someone living in a van.

"Well, I don't know about all that. But I have an idea where it might be." Greg then turned and started walking. "Come on."

The two human-gems followed him, and the three began a trek across the town towards wherever Greg was taking. As they did, the dad asked his son able how he's been doing with the Gems and how they met Isaac. The young man told about how he came to Beach City to find Rose Quartz, so that he could learn who his mother was. He then talked about how he was attacked and defeated the monster he fought that night, before Steven took over and told the rest.

When Steven was done telling the story, Greg looked to Isaac. "Sorry you weren't able to see Rose, Isaac," he said, feeling sorry for the teenager. "You would have liked her."

"I'm sure I would have," Isaac said genuinely with his hands in his pockets. "I'm just glad I was able to know about mom, just like dad wanted me to."

"Where is your dad," Steven asked, wanting to know about his friend's family.

Isaac's face turned bitter. "He's…dead."

The Universe family stopped for a moment, and Isaac stopped with then. "I-I sorry," Steven said with a guilty expression.

Not wanting for the boy to feel like he did something wrong, Isaac sighed shook his head. "It's not your fault, kid. Nobody could have seen it coming," he told him, before continuing to walk towards where Greg was taking them.

"What was he like," asked Greg.

"He was a good man, who wanted to look after people and protect others. That's why he became a police officer," Isaac told them. "He was the one that helped me try and work with my gem. He didn't know how to, but he never gave up on me and helped me learn how to make bubbles. The weapon was something I had to learn on my own."

"You said that your dad wanted you to come here," Steven said. "Was that after he died?"

"That's right. He and a few other cops were stopping a robbery when it turned out that one of the robbers placed a bomb in one of the parked cars. It went off, and my dad wasn't the lucky one."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Greg said, placing a hand on Isaac's shoulder in sympathy. "What happened then."

"Before he died from his injuries in the hospital, he wrote a letter to leave to me. It explained that Rose Quartz would tell me all I wanted to know about so that's why I'm here. Dad always told me that mom kept her past a secret. I waited one week to stay for the funeral, then sent the next week traveling here to Beach City." Isaac ended his as they approached a storage center called U-Stor.

"A magical storage unit!" Steven exclaimed excitedly, before rushing over to the storage unit.

"Ha, not exactly. But some would say there's magic inside," Greg said.

Steven blinked cluelessly, as Isaac looked deadpanned at him.

"It's just a shed I use to keep things that don't fit in the van," Greg clarified, before he and Isaac grabbed the bottom of the door. "If it's anywhere, it'll be in here."

The two of them lift open the door and Isaac eyes widened incredulously when it was revealed that the shed was filled to the brim with boxes and clutter. He walked up to it and placed his hand on a box. It suddenly caused some to fall down. Isaac now knew that Greg may have a major hoarding problem. "Kid, you stay here," he told Steven. "I'll go get the Light Cannon."

"If you're going in there, you're gonna need some gear," Steven told Isaac.

A moment later Steven tied a flashlight to his head with a sock and wrapped an electric cord around his waist. Steven stepped back to admire his work on the blonde, who felt ridicules but kept on the light. Isaac took in a deep breath and turned towards the shed. "Here I go." He then got down on his hands and knees and starting crawling through a tight opening.

"Good luck," Greg said.

Squeezing in through the tight opening, Isaac made it to an area that was spacious even to stand. So, he stood up and looked around at the array of junk. There was almost everything a person could think of in the shed.

"Yeah, definitely a hoarder," Isaac muttered before walking on. He stepped carefully over random ideas that were left lying on the floor. It was almost unbelievable how much Greg threw in here and then closed the down without even taking the time to organize.

Then there was a bunch of mattresses in his way. Isaac groaned before trying to force himself in between the mattresses. Struggling at first, he decided to just push them apart. He could hear some things stressing under the force of the mattresses pressing against them.

He was in another spacious area, so Isaac stepped out of the mattresses and looked around. "So, Greg, what's your story," he asked, picking up a golf bag that he thought was the cannon, before throwing it down.

"What do you mean?"

Isaac brushed off some smaller junk that were on a drum, which he thought was the cannon. "I mean, how did you and Rose Quartz become a thing," he asked, hitting the drum two times before rummaging around again. "You must have won her heart somehow."

"Oh, well, that was back during the 1990s, before I ran the car wash," Greg told his story, as Isaac started pushing and throwing junk out of his way. "Back then, I was a one-man band, traveling the whole country."

Isaac then picked up a T-Shirt cannon he found. "You were a musician," he asked, before shooting out the T-shirt and catching it. He looked at it and it said 'Buy T-Shirt Cannons'. "Hehehe."

"Oh, yeah," Greg said, as Isaac continued clawing through the junk. "When I came to play a concert here in Beach City, no one showed up except—"

"An ALLIGATOR!" Steven yelled.

"No, it was your mother."

Steven laughed. "Hahaha, I know." Isaac chuckled, going deeper into the shed.

"And we were always together after that. Until she gave up her physical form to bring Steven into the world." Isaac stopped when he heard a creak from under his hand and looked down. He saw that he accidentally crushed a photo frame of Greg and Rose. Luckily, he didn't scratch his hand, and he carefully picked up the picture from the broken glass and looked at it. The two of them looked so happy together. "I don't know what a magic lady like her ever saw in a plain old _dope_ like me."

"Uh, sorry, Greg," Isaac said to him. "I accidentally broke one of your photos."

"It's okay Isaac. If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs."

Isaac blinked. "What does that even…" suddenly something started to glow a bright pink light off to the side. "…mean?" He looked at the direction of the glow and he gasped when he saw it was the Light Cannon.

The weapon was a large, sundown pink, cannon-type magical weapon made up of a crystalline material. The backside, hinges, and even the cylinder barrel of the cannon all follow a floral design.

"Bingo!"

Back outside, Greg and Steven were staring at the Red Eye. "Oh boy, that thing's giving me the willies," the man said, rubbing his stomach.

"Guys, I found it!" Isaac called from inside the shed.

"Really?" Steven got excited.

"Yeah, but It's too big and heavy for me to move," Isaac said, before tying cord around the cannon. "I got an idea! Greg, get your van!"

* * *

A moment later, Greg drove the van to the shed and parked it backwards to it. Steven then tied their end of the cord to the back bumper of the vehicle.

Greg started the van and floored it. The tires shrieked against the concert, as the van struggled to pull out the cannon. However, only a few seconds later, and the weapon was pulled out of the shed, but not before every other thing in it. They all fell over and some even broke. Isaac ran out of the shield, and Steven and Greg joined him next to the cannon. All three of them panting.

"If we're going to save the city, we've gotta get it to the beach!" Isaac told Greg.

"How? It's too big for the van," Greg said, before a wagon rolled up next to them.

Steven tied the cord to the wagon handle for it to be pulled by the van, as Isaac and Greg carried the cannon to the wagon. "How did Rose take this thing around?" the young man groaned, struggling not to drop it. Even with his increased strength that was given to him by Onyx, the cannon wasn't light at all.

When they got it over the wagon, they let it drop, and the cannon broken through the bottom of the wagon.

The three shared glances.

* * *

Not even going to try and think of another way to transport it, they got in the van and started driving to the beach. Behind the van, the wagon rolled with them as the cannon was dragged against the road, creating sparks.

In the van, Greg was driving carefully as to not trip it over, as Steven at next to him and Isaac was standing in the back looking at the weapon. "We're still good," he told them, before moving up to the front.

"Is it gonna be okay," Steven asked his dad.

Greg shrugged at first before saying, "If every pork chop were perfect—"

"We wouldn't have hot dogs!" Steven chimed in, and Greg made a left turn.

Isaac looked up at the Red Eye. As it got closer, it had gotten so big it was huge now, and freaking him out. "Can't the van go any faster?"

Greg pressed harder on the gas. The van only went a little faster. "This _is_ faster," he replied.

"Don't worry. Come on, let's put on your CD," Steven said, holding up one of Greg's own made music.

Isaac looked the CD case and raised an eyebrow. "'Let Me Drive My Van (into your heart),'" he asked.

Greg flushed a little. "What? Really? Come on, you've heard it," he said, embarrassed.

" _You_ come on." Steven said to persuade his dad, but then Isaac took the case of his hand and then replaced it with another song.

"If I'm going to die, I'm going to be listening to this song," he simply said. Steven looked at it before putting the CD into the player. The song _Hooked on a Feeling_ by Blue Swede started playing.

"Great pick," Greg said with an approving smile.

The van pasted some citizens as it headed towards the beach, driving past the Big Donut, as some of the people stared Red Eye. When they got on the sand, Greg turned left and headed for the Gems. The sky was now turning red from the Red Eye, as it grew bigger and bigger.

Greg saw where Pearl and Garnet were standing near the water and quickly parked near them.

When they heard the song, Garnet and Pearl looked at van for a moment, before they heard something getting washed ashore. They looked down and saw it was Amethyst, who washed up at their feet. "Throw me again, I think I'm cracking it," she said to them, before noticing the van as Greg, Steven, and Isaac got out. The three then saw the Light Cannon and their faces turned to astonishment. "Is that…?"

Pearl gasped. "He _really_ had it!" She said with a smile.

"We're SAVED!" Amethyst shouted, jumping in front of the two other Gems with joy.

Suddenly they all felt a pull and looked to see it was coming from the Red Eye, as it had its own ability to create a powerful gravity anomaly. Its gravity began to pull everything towards it, causing rumbling and destruction to several buildings near the beach. Some roofing tiles from the beach house were pulled towards it, electrical line towers were bent out of place, and the sign from Beach Citywalk Fries was pulled off.

"We have to use it now," Garnet said urgently, as the Gems ran over to the cannon.

Isaac quickly started pushing against the cannon to get it angled at the Red Eye. However, he was only straining himself as the barrel refused to move. "Damnit!" He then looked at Pearl. "How do you work this thing!?"

"I don't know—it was Rose's!" Pearl responded and felt around the barrel for something that would work for it.

Steven looked at his dad. "Dad, how do we use it?" Greg only shrugged.

"Rose left behind something this powerful and didn't even in an instruction!?" Isaac exclaimed, questioning what she was possibly thinking. How he gasped when he realized something. "'Left behind'…"

Pearl heard him and quickly realized what he was thinking. "The gem!" She said to Steven. " _You_ have Rose's gem!"

Steven lifted up his shirt and looked at his gem. Amethyst then grabbed him by the shirt and brought him close to her face. "That's it!" She then lifted up Steven and pressed him hard against the Light Cannon. With his gem touching it. The short Gem started rubbing him against the barrel that just looked wrong to Isaac. "Augh…come on…!" She yelled in frustration, as what she was doing didn't do anything at all.

"Stop that," Garnet order and Amethyst obeyed.

"It's no use," Pearl said hopelessly.

The gravitational pull started to intensify, and the van was starting to get pulled towards the Red Eye. Taking along with it the cannon and Steven. Isaac quickly got in front of the weapon and attempted to push it back. But was no good, as he was only digging his feet into the sand as he was pushed back too. "Greg, hook us!"

"Got it!" Greg replied and untied the cord from the wagon. However, the moment he did that, the van started moving faster to the Red Eye. He tried to stop the vehicle by pulling back, but he started getting pulled too. "No-wait! Nope, maybe I don't!"

Steven watched as his dad was pulled away, before turning to the cannon he was still on. "Please work. Unlock! Activate! Go! Please!?" He said desperately, pounding his fist on it before stopping. "Everyone's counting on you! You can't just be useless! I know you can help!"

"It's okay, Steven," said Isaac from the other side, trying to comfort the boy. "We'll figure out something better. It's like you and Greg say, if every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs."

The moment after he said that, Light Cannon started glowing brightly. Thin white lines started to form on the barrel. Isaac and Steven watched as a charging sound came from it and the muzzle of the cannon started to change forms, blooming like a fully developed rose, until it took the shape of one. Steven fell off and Isaac stepped back.

"It's working!" Pearl yelled, as she and Garnet were holding Amethyst from being pulled away.

Suddenly the hinges unlocked, and the barrel fall over. It almost crushed Isaac if he hadn't got out of the way.

The Gem collectively gasped. Isaac stared at the cannon, as it glowed brighter and the sound became loud. He then glared with determination and grabbed the barrel. Summoning all the strength he could muster, the son of the Gem of War, lifted it up. It was still extremely heavy, but he wasn't giving up just yet.

Steven, Greg, and the Gems all watched in wonder as the young man was able to successfully bring the cannon upwards. Isaac then stepped under the barrel and placed it onto his left shoulder.

He aimed right at the center of the Red Eye, and the noised sounded like it was ready to fire.

Isaac narrowed his glaring eyes. "Don't blink."

The Light Cannon fired its volley. An intense peach-pink light beam was shot out of the muzzle. It then changed into a rose bud, as multiple other beams splinted off and turned into vines that synchronized and twirl around the main beam. The main beam boomed in the air and took on the vague shape of Rose Quartz, reach out to the sky as the smaller beams followed with her.

They all hit the Red Eye dead center, causing it to start cracking and a small explosion where they hit. The Gems, Steven, and Isaac all watched in total, wide-eyed awe.

The Red Eye cracked and broke, before it was finally destroyed in a massive explosion.

The ball of the explosion shined brightly, as shrapnel from the Eye fell. When the explosion dead out, the night sky was at its normal color again. And Isaac dropped the barrel off his shoulder.

Then the shrapnel and destroyed parts of the Red Eye started falling all around them. Much of it fell into the ocean, but there were some that crashed in the city, people started running away as much of the boardwalk was pelted and destroyed with large chucks of the Red Eye.

The Gems ran over to Steven and Isaac. Pearl and Garnet looked at the damage done, while Amethyst exclaimed with joking joy, "Steven! Isaac! You guys just saved most of Beach City!"

Steven and Isaac stared at the destruction with wide eyes. "Sorry about that!" The boy called to Mr. Fryman, whose car they may have wrecked. But the man didn't hear them.

Pearl turned her head towards the boys. "How did you get it to work," she asked, while astonished by their ability to activate it and Isaac's level of strength.

"I-I just said that thing that Greg always says," Isaac said, before looking towards where Greg was. He then made his way to him.

"That thing about pork rinds?"

Garnet placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hot dogs."

Isaac walked up to Greg as he stared at where the Red Eye once was. "Hey, Greg," he said, and the man looked at him. Isaac reached into his back pocket, and pulled out the same photo of Greg and Rose he found.

Greg gasped at the sight of it and teared up. "Rose…"

"She would have been proud of you," Isaac told him with a smile, handing him to the photo.

Greg took it and stared at it for a second. He wiped away his tears and smiled at Isaac. "Thanks, Isaac." He placed a hand on the young man's shoulder. "And I sure you're dad's proud of you, too."

Isaac smiled gratefully. They then stared up at the night sky, as the Gems and Steven all walked over to join. After a moment, the young man looked to his right. Steven stood at his dad's right, and Greg wrapped his arm around him, with his left hand on the boy's left shoulder.

He finally understood why Rose loved Greg. Sure, he wasn't perfect, but that made him something better.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **And that ends the second part of "Gem of War"!**

 **In the first chapter, I left Isaac's past open because I was having a hard time thinking of a back story and why he would to Beach City after all this time. So, I went for a simple background.**

 **Not much else to say. I'm starting school again, so I'll be going slow again with the updates.**

 **Also, just a little Easter egg, the tattoo Isaac had was inspired by** _ **God of War**_ **.**

 **That's it for now. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and if you want me to keep writing this story, then please leave a REVIEW. I would really appreciate it if you do. If you any questions or decisions you'd have for me, then please PM me.**

 **Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.**


	3. Act One Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: The Lunar Sea Spire**_

If there is one thing you should know about Isaac, is that he's not a morning person. But knowing that he was going to have to get up at one point, the blonde opened his eyes.

Still feeling a sense of grogginess, Isaac was lying on his back on Steven's couch, covered by an extra blanket and pillow that the kid loaned to him. With half opened eyes, and his left arm hanging off the edge of the couch, Isaac yawned out loud and sat up.

But then he realized some. It was oddly quiet. No Steven to annoy him. No bickering from Pearl or Amethyst. Rubbing his eyes to clear them, he looked around and saw that not Steven nor the Gems were in the living space. But that only meant he could go into the bathroom with what he was wearing now; a tank top and workout shorts.

The first night at the beach house, Isaac slept with only his boxers, which was more comfortable for him. But the next morning, Pearl saw him walk up and seeing him in only his boxers nearly scared the Gem to death.

After walking into the bathroom, Isaac preformed the daily routine of cleaning himself up in the same way the Steven showed him. After taking a shower, he brushed his teeth. Next, he washed his faced. Then, he cleaned out his ears. Finally, Isaac took a wet rag and wiped his mother's gemstone until he was able to see his own face. He smiled into the reflection.

Isaac exited the bathroom after slip on his clothes and walked out into the main area. The Gems still weren't there. "Gems must be out on a mission," he said to himself.

Isaac turned his head up to the second level and saw that Steven wasn't in his bed.

"Where is the little scamp?"

Opening the door, he walked out of the beach house and scanned the area for the boy. At first, he couldn't see Steven anywhere and wonder if he went to the Big Donut. So, he started walking down the wooden stairs to go find him.

However, as Isaac reached the sandy surface of the beach and turned to go around the cliff, he stopped for a moment when he saw Steven sitting on a small rock next to a mailbox. "Hey Mr. Postman, bring me a post, bring me the post that I love the most," he sang to himself.

"Steven?" Isaac walked up to him. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm waiting for Jamie to come with the post," Steven said to his blonde friend. "I'm waiting for two packages that I ordered for the two of us."

Isaac was a little taken back. He still barely knew him and yet he went through the trouble of getting him a gift. "Really? Thanks, kid," he said with a genuine smile. "What is it?"

"You'll have to wait and see," Steven told him. A second afterward, Isaac noticed someone coming around the corner of the Temple. By the uniform, it must have been Jamie. Steven turned his head to look at the mailman and gasped with excitement. Stars even appeared in his eyes, before jumping off the rock. "My song came true! Do you have a package for me today?"

"Hold on," said Jamie, before opening his mailbag. "Let me see what I've got here." He first pulled out a package that in the shape of a loaf of bread. "Did you order a loaf of bread with a stamp on it?"

"No," Steven said, while Isaac raised his eyebrow and asked why anyone would owner a loaf of bread off the internet.

Jamie then pulled out an envelope. "Did you order a jury summons for R.J. Finkle?"

"That's not me, I'm Steven." He then gestured to Isaac. "And this is my friend, Isaac."

"Hey," Isaac said, waving a hand.

"Greetings, Isaac," he said in a dramatic voice. Jamie then pulled out two large packages. "Here they are, Steven Universe and another one gifted to an Isaac…Infinite?"

"That would be me," said the blonde, before grabbing both of the packages. Jamie then pulled out an electronic signature pad. Isaac held up the packages with one hand and signed the pad.

"Barb yells at me if I don't get signatures," Jamie said, taking the pad and putting it away.

"That's awful," Steven said, before turning his body to Isaac and looked up at the packages with excitement. Jamie then walked away. "But this is great! These things are gonna help us save the world."

Isaac handed Steven his package and looked at the one that was for him. "Really," he asked before looking at the description of the box. "How is something from the Wacky Sacks Supply Company going to help us?"

"Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl think you and I shouldn't go on magical adventures because I don't know how to use my Gem powers, and you're still trying to learn about your powers," Steven said in a matter-of-fact way.

Isaac gave him an obvious look. "Sounds reasonable enough. Besides, I only left behind because I have to babysit you and make sure you don't burn down the house."

"When have I ever," Steven questioned with a shrug.

Isaac raised an eyebrow. Had really forgot about the time he caused an explosion after putting a bowl of food in the microwave with a metal spoon in it?

"But there are other ways I can help. And you'll be able to go on adventures with the Gems," Steven insisted. "And it's with these!"

"You want to help the Gems, with dangerous missions, with something called Wacky Sack," Isaac asked him, hopefully emphasizing how ridiculous it all sounded.

"Exactly!"

Just then, a strange, sparkling sound with a bright light came from behind Isaac. He turned around and saw that it was coming from inside the house, as the light was coming through the windows. It lasted for only three seconds, before the light faded and the noise fell silent. "What was that," he asked.

"Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are back!" Steven exclaimed excitedly, before running past him. Isaac looked at the package again, wonder what a Wacky Sack was, before following after him.

Being older and more fit, Isaac was able to catch up with Steven with no trouble and went at the same pace as the boy. They ran up the stairs and onto the deck.

Steven opened the door eagerly and ran inside, before Isaac walked in. When he saw the Crystal Gems, he stopped and said, "huh?"

There were feathers littered on the floor, with Garnet's hair covered in some of them. Pearl held onto an object of some kind, while was arguing with Amethyst, who was opening the fridge with what was the largest egg he's ever seen.

"Hello, boys," Garnet greeted them with no expression, as usual. Not even bothered that there were feathers in her hair. Isaac nodded and closed the door behind him.

"Amethyst, we do _not_ need that!" Pearl argued at Amethyst, but the short Gem ignored her. "It's not going to fit in the fridge!"

"What? I got this," Amethyst told her, having finally paid attention to what Pearl said. With one arm holding the egg, the purple Gem used the other one to slowly slide a tray out of the fridge. Then, instead of placing it carefully down, Amethyst threw it down, spilling the milk and dropping the bagels. Satisfied, she placed the giant egg in. "Look, it fits!"

Isaac was about to point out that it didn't, but flinched and cringed when Amethyst slammed refrigerator door. A cracking sound was heard from the inside.

"Oh, man. We can make a big omelet, or a quiche, or big sunny side ups!—"

Pearl made a face at her. "Was that a giant egg," asked Isaac.

"We fought a giant bird," she said to him and Steven. She then gestured to what she was holding: a small statue that depicted a woman with long Venice-blue hair, thick lips, a nose, and closed eyes. The body had a light slate-gray color and ended in a sharp white point similar to a polished diamond's culet on the base. Its hands were grasping a diamond-shaped object. "We're only here for a second, we've got to go back out."

"What's going on," Isaac asked.

Pearl smiled and showed him the statue. "We have to place this Moon Goddess Statue on the top of the Lunar Sea Spire before midnight. Without it, the whole place will fall apart!" she said, before talking dreamily and with passion. "Oh, Isaac, you should have seen the spire in its heyday." She then surprised Isaac when her gemstone glowed and projects hologram.

The hologram showed the Sea Spire as a tower structure. Before it showed people inside of it. But with the strange forms they had and the fact that there were no males, Isaac guessed that they were Gems too.

"It was an oasis for Gems on Earth," she explained, but then looked serious and ended the hologram with a pop. "It's abandoned now, but we can still save it with this statue!"

"Wha?" Upon hearing that, Steven eyes turned into star shapes, as he once again got excited. "That's perfect! Quick, Isaac, open your package!"

"What? Why," asked Isaac.

"Because one of us can help carry it for them with what I've got us," Steven explained and placed his box on the ground.

Isaac looked at the Gems. They shrugged. Might as well do it, and so Isaac grabbed the top of the box and tore it open. He looked in and his eyes widened.

While Steven made a bunch of sound effects with his mouth, he and Isaac pulled out the last things Isaac expected to see. Both items were food-shaped backpacks. Steven got a backpack in the shape of a hamburger.

As for Isaac, he got a single-strap backpack in the form of a taco. Looking at it, he could see it had two green lettuce, two layers of red tomatoes, two layers of purple onions, two layers of brown meat, and it all came to a yellow cheese center. Each one of those layers was a pocket, even the cheese.

Unable to stop staring at it, Isaac managed to turn away from it and look at Steven. "What the hell is this?"

"They're Novelty Backpacks! Mines a cheeseburger, and yours's a taco! Aww, I blew it." He put his backpack on his shoulder and started explaining, while trying to be cool. "I was just going to wear it one day, and you guys would be like, 'Dang, Steven, that's so cool.' And then I thought that since you're so cool, Isaac, you'd want one too. But this is obviously an important Gem business."

"Yes, so you should let us take care of it," Pearl instructed the boy.

"What? I'm a Gem!" Steven lifted up his shirt and pointed at his gemstone.

"Yeah, and what about me," Isaac asked the Crystal Gems. "I get it, we've still have a lot to learn about being a Crystal Gem, but I've been here for over a week and I'm left behind with Steven while you girls are off on your missions. I'm a capable fighter, and I'll be able to keep Steven safe."

"Yeah, Pearl! Let them come!" Amethyst said, before waving her hands. "It'll be educational."

"Hmm." Pearl thought for a moment, before giving the humans a defeated smile. "Alright. You can carry it in your hamburger," she said to Steven, and handed him the statue. "And you can come too, Isaac.

"Awesome!" Isaac exclaimed with a grin. He was fired up to go see Lunar Sea Spire and finally get out of the house. He may have proved himself before with the Centipeetle and the Red Eye, but he wanted to continue proving he was a Crystal Gem. "Then let's go!" He placed the taco backpack on the counter.

"Wait!" Steven stopped him by grabbing his pants. He then grabbed the taco backpack and held it up to Isaac. "You should bring this? you and I can pack extra supplies."

Isaac gave him a face. There was no way that he was going to wear that ridiculous pack with him on a serious adventure.

Steven gave him the puppy eyes.

Why did he have to do that? It wasn't far! Then again, the boy did go through the trouble of buying him the backpack.

Isaac sighed, took the bag, and walked to the living room. "Fine, I'll take the stupid bag," he grumbled.

Now happy, Steven went to the fridge and put bagels in his backpack. Isaac opened his old, worn out backpack and emptied it out on the floor. He grabbed the long climbing rope with a grappling hook at the end and placed it into the taco backpack. Steven went over to his closet under the stairs and pulled out two sweaters. Isaac grabbed a compass. Steven packed an inflatable raft. Isaac placed three road flares into the tomato pocket. Steven stuffed a kite in his cheeseburger. Lastly, Isaac placed the last item he would need, a combat shovel.

All items Isaac gathered were things that were essential for survival. It was kind of amazing that you can find most of it to buy on Amazon. He zipped up the backpack, which widened its sides from the objects he'd packed. His attention was then caught the sound of some toy going off above him and looked up at Steven's room.

Steven looked down it see that he stepped on one of his stuffed animals. He gasped and then laughed. "Mr. Queasy!" He picked up and shook the plush doll and continued laughing. "You're definitely gonna come in handy!"

He reached into his new backpack and removed the first aid kit. He then stuffed the plush toy into the backpack.

Isaac couldn't help but face palm at the boy's naïve and cluelessness. He walked past Steven on his way up the stairs and grabbed the first aid kit. Placing it in his bag, he was about to the where Crystal Gems were, standing on the circular platform at the entrance of the Temple, when he noticed something. When he saw what it was, Isaac groaned in annoyance. "Goddamnit, Steven."

"Isaac, we're all waiting for you!" Pearl called for the blonde young man, as Steven was standing on the pad with them.

"Coming!" Isaac ran down the stairs and stepped onto the strange platform. "So how are we getting there," he asked, fitting into the group.

"We're using this Wrap Pad to teleport there," Garnet said. Right after she said that, a blue light flashed from the pad, and a cylindrical beam of bright light emitted from the Wrap Pad. Extending all the way up to the ceiling.

However, there weren't going anywhere, as Steven's stomach stopped the beam from being complete.

"Suck it in, Steven!" Amethyst yelled. Steven inhaled, pulling his stomach in. When the beam completely concealing the five members, they faded away upwards into the stream.

"WOOOOOOOO!" Isaac shouted joyfully as they were teleported in the teal light. He and Steven then started to float, causing both boys to laugh with wonder. "This is amazing! You guys do this all the time!?"

"Yes, but please be careful, and stay still," Pearl instructed him. "If you don't then you'll—"

In a moment, the fun ended when they arrived at their destination. The teal light faded away, and the Gems were on standing on another Warp Pad.

However, when they arrived, Isaac was still in the air. When gravity reclaimed a hold of his body, Isaac fell and landed on his stomach. He only able to groan in pain for a moment, before Steven fell on his back, knocking out all the air in his lungs.

Amethyst laughed as Pearl groaned and rubbed her face. Steven laughed too, only for Isaac to roughly push him off. "Get off, you baby hippo!" He exclaimed angrily. Isaac stood up with his hands on his back, bending back a little and caused to spin to crackle a little. Dusting himself off, he looked at his surroundings. Isaac's eyes widened, and his jaws dropped in astonishment and wonder.

The Lunar Sea Spire was a freestanding tower structure. All around them, there was a waterfall that encircled the tower.

"This is incredible," he said, unable to take his eyes off of the tower. However, a large chunk of the Spire broke off and fell to the water below. That wasn't good.

"It wasn't like this a hundred years ago," said Pearl scanning the tower in its ruined state. Isaac looked around the area and saw that they were on another landmass separated from the tower. There wasn't much of anything. If there was anything like building or a type of structure, it was long gone.

"I'm sensing structural instability," Garnet state the obvious.

"Oh, yeah," Steven said near the edge of the landmass. The ground beneath him started to crack around his feet. "That's never good."

"Get away from there!" Isaac roughly grabbed Steven by his new backpack and threw him away from the edge. Saving him before the one piece of the edge could break off and fall to the ground.

Pearl caught Steven. But then something for up above cracked. Isaac looked up just in time to see another chunk of the tower falling off and coming right for him.

"GAH!" Isaac yelled and jumped out of the way, before the bolder could crush him.

He landed on his stomach with a thud, before picking himself up. Meanwhile, Pearl hugged Steven close to her face. "Alright, hold on. We're taking Steven back!" She declared, before giving the boy a squeeze.

This, however activated that annoying plush toy in his backpack. Steven leaped off Pearl and took the Mr. Queasy doll out of his backpack. "Oh, Mr. Queasy!" He started laughing, before shaking the toy, causing it to make more noises.

Suddenly, Isaac grabbed Mr. Queasy by the neck and pulled it away from Steven. "Will you knock it off!" He snapped at the boy, stuffing the plush toy into his taco bag. "This isn't one of your stories or video games, this is real life, and this is a dangerous place! I don't care what it takes, but if you're going to stay and help, and stay alive, you've really got to listen and take this serious!"

"You got it, dude!" Steven wink, gave him a thumbs up, and stuck tongue out.

Isaac glared at him for a moment. But after realizing that he wasn't going to stop being his obnoxious self, he sighed. This was going to be a long trip up to the top.

"Enough, we have to move," Garnet order the group. The Gems and Steven ran up a cliff that was the closest path to reaching an opening into the tower. Isaac, however, walked as he followed them. He couldn't help but look up at the tower in wonder again. It was unlike anything he's ever seen in his life.

But why would Gems want to construct it here? On this planet in the middle of the ocean.

"What's the hold-up?" Isaac heard Amethyst ask and saw that Garnet had the group come to a halt at the edge of the cliff. He jogged over to rejoin them as the purple Gem said, "We can clear this easily."

"Yeah, speak for yourself," retorted Isaac as he walked pasted her and was about to look over the edge towards the bottom, but Garnet suddenly pulled him back by his arm.

"Don't get too close," she ordered him. "The magic that sustains the whirlpool creates a vortex that will pull us below." To demonstrate, she grabbed a boulder next to her and threw it.

Half way from reaching the tower, it stopped suddenly in midair. Then, as if it wasn't even thrown a second ago, the boulder was pulled straight down to the whirlpool the Sea Spire was resting on.

"So, we can't jump," asked Pearl.

Isaac took off his taco backpack and pulled out the climbing rope with the grappling hook. "No, but this gives me an idea," he informed the Crystal Gems. He then turned to Steven. "Kid, do you have anything that you can use to tie yourself around me?"

"Oh, wait!" Steven responded and pulled out two sweaters from his Cheeseburger backpack. "These _were_ for keeping warm."

Isaac handed Garnet his Taco backpack, which she took. "Good, now give one of them your backpack. It's only going to be added on weight," he said. Taking the rope, Isaac swung the hook around to big up speed.

He then tossed it over to the tower. The hook caught itself through a window. Isaac pulled on it hard to make sure it was secure. It was.

"What are you doing," Pearl asked wearily. She had an idea on what Isaac was about to do, as he stepped on the rope and crouched do for Steven to piggy back on him, and she prayed that he wasn't about to do it.

After having Steven jump on him, Isaac imminently started to feel the weight of the kid, but he continued on. Isaac tied the sweaters tightly around Steven's back and his own torso, making sure that he wasn't going to fall off. Sweat started to build up on his forehead, as Isaac anxiously grabbed the rope. Holding it tightly, he wrapped the near end of rope around both himself and Steven, before tying it nice and secure.

"You really," Isaac asked Steven, whose eyes had stars in them.

"Cheeseburger and Taco," he whispered, saying that he was ready. Wrapping his arms and legs around his friend.

Isaac took in a deep breath.

That's when the Crystal Gems realized what the two were about to do. "Isaac/Steven!" Pearl and Amethyst shouted with great fear and worry, as Garnet gasped.

The three magical ladies ran to try and stop Isaac, but it was too late. Isaac had run to the edge and jumped.

Isaac and Steven yelled as they swung over to the tower. The power of the vortex took hold, and the two were getting pulled down. When they almost collided with the wall, the young man quickly stretched out his feet and landed on them when he made contact. Steven tightened his hold on Isaac, as he felt as though he was going to be ripped away from his friend.

"They're getting sucked down!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"Steven! Isaac!" The Gems shouted at the two humans.

Luckily, the rope didn't come undone and kept the two from falling. Using his strength, Isaac reached onto with one arm and grabbed further up the rope, taking one step forward. He then did it again, grabbing up the rope and taking a step. And he repeated the process until he started a rhythm.

Pearl exhaled loudly in a sigh of relief, while Garnet looked with her jaw hanging open. "Way to go, Isaac!" Amethyst called out to the blonde. But then the three heard another cracking sound.

Isaac heard it too, and when he looked up, he saw that another chunk of the tower broken off.

And it was falling right towards them!

Steven screamed in terror, while Isaac reacted quickly and ran across the wall to the right. Getting out of the way of the rock as it pasted right by them.

Afterwards, he quickened his climb and managed to make it close to the window.

Then he heard another cracking noise right above him, and knew that another piece was breaking off.

Isaac let go of the rope with one hand and grabbed the ledge of the window. "Go! Get in!" He urgently ordered Steven.

The new chunk of the Sea Spire continued to break off.

After untying himself for Isaac Steven was able to climb up the older human and crawl onto the floor.

Then the chunk broke off.

"Isaac!" cried out the Gems.

He completely let go of the climbing rope and grabbed the ledge. Then Isaac started to pull himself up. Steven quickly grabbed his shirt and helped pull him in.

They managed to bring in Isaac, just a split second before the rock could take him with it down to a watery grave. Isaac fell down on his back, sighed out loud, and groaned in exhaustion. More than happy that he and Steven made it to safety, as the two friends panted.

"Fuckin' A! C'mon, guys!" Amethyst exclaimed with encouragement, as she summoned her whip. She swung it over through the window, and it wrapped around near the grappling hook. Amethyst then grabbed Pearl and Garnet with one arm and lifted them onto her shoulder, showing an impressive amount of strength. "Isaac style!"

Amethyst jumped off the cliff and landed her feet onto the wall. Then, with a single burst of speed, she climbed on the way to the window. As Steven stood back up and Isaac lifted himself up to sit on the cool, wet floor, Amethyst came up and landed in the room. At last, the Crystal Gems were in the Sea Spire.

After making a face that made her look like Pac-Man, Pearl glared at Isaac. "Don't ever do that again!" she snapped.

"Not worry. I'm not." Isaac replied between pants. Then Garnet held out his Taco backpack to him. He looked up and saw her giving him a nodded. He smiled and grabbed the strap, before standing up. Garnet let go and walked onwards.

Amethyst pushed the Cheeseburger backpack into Steven's chest and ruffed his head, as the two of them laughed.

Isaac slipped on the Taco backpack as Pearl walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "But it was pretty great," she told him with a smile, before she and he started to walk with the other.

However, when Isaac's eyes noticed something off the left corner of his line of sight, he turned his head and looked. What he saw made him stop, and when he stopped, Pearl and Steven stopped too. "What's wrong," asked the young boy, getting the attention of Garnet and Amethyst, so they stopped and looked at the blonde.

The moment Isaac's eyes were looking straight at what he saw, he became fixated on that thing. He turned and started walking towards it. When the Gems saw what it was, they immediately knew what it was

Edged to the cylinder wall of the Lunar Sea Spire was a diamond-shaped symbol that was split into four other diamonds with different colors. The top one was white, the right was blue, yellow was the one on the left, and at the bottom was a pink diamond.

Isaac stopped a few feet for it and just stared. He's never seen this basic looking, yet strange symbol before in his life. The longer he stared, however, he started to feel a strange feeling. His teeth gritted together. He was breathing through his teeth, and each breath became panting, ragged huff and puff of air. His eyes started to form a glare of hate. His hands clenched into fists. His heart tightened, and his blood boiled.

He couldn't explain it, other than the longer he stared at the diamond symbol, Isaac became consumed with a sensation that could only be narrowed to one thing.

Furious rage.

Seeing his angering state getting worse, the other four started to become worried. However, when Pearl looked at his right hand and saw his Onyx gemstone glowing, she gasped when steam began to appear from his fist.

Knowing she had to get him out of his state, she rushed over and grabbed him. Pearl then quickly turned him around and shook the blonde. "Isaac!"

Isaac gasped the moment he was pulled out of his enraged trance. His green eyes were wide open while he stared in Pearl's sky-blue ones. A look of confusion showed on his face, and Isaac looked at the others, seeing them gazing worriedly at him.

"Dude, what was that about," Amethyst asked.

"I-I-I don't know," Isaac responded, rubbing his face and whipping a bit of sweat off. "I just saw that symbol and just felt…so…angry."

Pearl and Garnet shared a glance, wondering what could have caused Isaac's change in behavior. If they had to make a guess, then one doubt it was his mother. Could the Gem of War be affecting her son in any sort of way?

Garnet walked over placed a hand on Isaac's back. Isaac looked at her. "Let's keep moving," she insisted.

Isaac nodded, prompting the group to continue on. But going though, Isaac looked at the symbol one last time, before following.

Why did it make him feel like that?

* * *

"Oh, no, no, no, this is even worse than the outside. Ugh... that's... oh!"

"Pearl."

"Oh, this didn't used to be so—"

"Peeeeaaarl."

"Oh, and the water damage."

"It's damaged everywhere, Pearl."

"This pillar..."

"Don't care."

All throughout the Crystal Gem assentation up the spiral stairs, Pearl's been analyzing every part of the Sea Spire with her obsession with organization and neatness. The others weren't too bothered, but Isaac was trying to get her to calm down.

Once they came onto another floor of the tower, Pearl stopped when she looked at a statue with half of its head missing. "Oh, and this had a head..." she said, stopping. Steven walked on, as Isaac halted and looked at the statue.

Unbeknownst to the two was that crawling on the back of the statue were two small, crustacean-like invertebrates with white crystal shards fashioned into spikes.

"Pearl, the place has been in ruin for over a thousand years." Isaac tried to reason with her. "It's not going to get any better than what it is."

"Oh, but it will, Isaac," Pearl told him. "Once the statue's in place, it'll restore all of this to its former glory—" the moment she started to see the creatures crawling over the shoulders of the statue, the Gem started to seriously freak out. Pearl then screamed, summoned her spear, and sliced statue in half.

"The hell was that!?" Isaac exclaimed, also freaked out by the creatures.

"Crystal Shrimp," Pearl replied.

"You guys," Amethyst called from the next floor, "we got a problem!"

Isaac and Pearl ran up the stairs to rejoin Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven. When they did, Pearl gasped in shock when it turned out that the level they were on was crawling with tons of Crystal Shrimps. They were almost everywhere on the floor, including some on a few pillars. "It's an infestation," she stated. "And we have to pass through there to get to the top."

Steven walked over and leaned towards one of the shrimps. "Can't you just squish 'em," he asked and was about to touch it.

"Don't touch that, their shards are deadly!" Pearl shouted, grabbing Steven and pulling him away. "We need to clear a path." So, she placed the boy down and projected a hologram of Amethyst. "Amethyst, if you go around to the side and disturb them with a spin attack..." Pearl moved the hologram to one area of the floor, and had it doing the spin attack with a whip.

Isaac thought of a simpler way and started digging into his bag.

Pearl then made the Amethyst hologram disappear, before summoning another one in the form of Garnet. "And Garnet, if you move to the ceiling and strike this exact spot..." She made the hologram move to the ceiling and then projected an X at the spot she wanted the tall Gem to hit. Pearl then projected herself. "…then I can advance with my..."

A strange noise and a glowing, warm, red light broke her concentration and she looked at where it came from.

"That's so cool!" Steven exclaimed with starry eyes at Isaac, who smiled proudly while holding up one of his flares that he lit up.

"I know, right?" Isaac then reached into his Taco backpack pulled out another flare. "Don't light that until I say so," he instructed the boy before approaching the Crystal Shrimps.

With caution, Isaac held up the flare above the shrimps as the Gems watched him. The red flame got the attention on the shrimps.

He moved the flare to the right, and the heads followed it. Isaac then quickly moved it to the left. Once again, the shrimps stared at it, as if entranced by its light.

"Okay, Steven!" Isaac said over his shoulder. "Let her rip!"

"You got it!" Steven nodded with a determined smile. He then lite the flare the same way Isaac showed him; taking off the cap and striking it across the top as fast and hard as he could. He took him two tries, but he got it started and the flare burned brightly.

Isaac nodded and tossed his flare to one side of the room. Steven followed him by example and tossed the flare he had to the other side. The plan worked perfectly, and the shrimp proceeded to split off into two groups, and each group followed one of the flares. This left a wide, clear path for the group.

With his plan a success, Isaac looked back at the Gems and Steven with a smile.

"Brilliant," Garnet praised.

"Oh hey, what do you know," said Amethyst, liking how easy it was with Isaac's plan.

Pearl on the other hand was shocked and her hologram copied her expression. "Uh, uhh." Unable to form words at first, she made her hologram disappear. Pearl then walked up to Isaac with wide eyes. "How did you know that would work?" She questioned him, while secretly impressed with his resourcefulness.

"What? You've never seen _Jurassic Park_?" He jokingly asked.

Amethyst laughed at the joke, as she, Garnet and Steven walked past the two. "You're a riot!" She commented, ending with a chuckle.

"I just want everyone to know: my plan would have also worked." Pearl tried to clarify with her hands up. Isaac patted her on the back and the two followed the others.

* * *

The team reached the top of the staircase to the next room. The next stairs were broken into a few standing pieces, but they would be able to make it up them.

"Watch out!" Garnet stopped the group abruptly. And not a minute too soon. The wall to the left of them cracked and broke open. Allowing water to rush out and break the broken stairs. Now blocking their way was a small, rushing river that dropped below, off the tower and into the vortex.

"What are we gonna do," Amethyst asked.

"Well, I think that it's Steven turn," Isaac proclaimed, looking at the boy.

"What? Me," asked Steven.

"Yeah, kid. We both used our backpacks for the cliff climbing, then I used my Taco backpack for the shrimps." Isaac smiled encouragingly. Steven really wanted to show how helpful he could be on missions, and so he didn't want the boy to feel left out. "It's your turn to shine now."

"Really?" Steven's eyes widened.

"What have you got," asked Garnet.

"Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack!" Amethyst chanted. It made Steven nervous, and he reached into his backpack to look for anything that could help them "Pearl, c'mon."

"Oh, alright." Pearl caved in with a smile, before the two started chanting together. This made Steven search harder. When he found what would help, the boy smiled and pulled out it out.

"A raft!" Steven shouted, holding up a yellow, inflatable raft. He pulled the red handle, to which the raft instantly inflated.

Amethyst and Garnet gasped, as Pearl praised him. "Steven, that's so sensible!"

Isaac nodded, too. Until he saw Steven about to throw the raft into the water. "No, no, don't!" He tried to stop the boy, but his words fell deaf to Steven's ears, and he placed the raft in the water.

It quickly floated away, and went over the side of the Spire.

"Well, that's a bummer."

Garnet ran up to a pillar and kicked out the bottom of it. She then quickly hit the remaining part of it with her elbow. The tall structure fell over and landed on the other side of the river, forming a bridge. "Good idea anyway, Steven," she said after jumping onto the bridge and started walking across it. She stopped and looked over to Isaac. "And thank you for doing that for him."

Isaac smiled and nodded. He and the other then walked across the pillar and made it to the other side. However, he saw Steven was feeling down about his plan not working. So, he placed a hand on his shoulder. "The next one will definitely be a winner," he said to encourage him.

Steven smiled, and the two humans followed the Gems up another flight of stairs.

The rest of the climb up the winding stairs to the top was long and slow. It wasn't without its sights to behold. Isaac looked out at the falling water all around them, and saw some schools of fish passing by.

Then the sound of a whale got his attention and he stopped for a moment. Sense he was at the back of the group, the Gems didn't notice. And there it was, a massive blue whale with its young baby swinging next to it. Isaac couldn't stop the grin on his face from getting bigger, and he waved at it. The whales didn't seem to pay any attention to him and continued onwards. With the mighty creatures gone, Isaac continued on up to the top.

When he finally reached the top, the others were already there seconds ago. Isaac stared in total awe at the top of the Lunar Sea Spire. The stone surface of it seemed to reflect the light of the moon and there was a giant pedestal.

Isaac saw the Gems and Steven approaching the pedestal and ran over to join them.

"This is it," Pearl said in wonder as the team of five stopped in front of the pedestal. "The Moon Goddess pedestal." She looked up at the full moon up high in the cloudless night sky. "And the moon is almost overhead! It's not too late to save this piece of history!"

Garnet turned to Steven. "Steven, the statue."

Steven took off his Cheeseburger backpack and stuck his hand in it, trying to feel for the statue. But he was unable to find it. "Uhh, I, uh, ah, uhh..." With a terrified look on his face, the boy urgently opened all of the pockets in his backpack and tried searching for it.

Isaac then cleared his throat. The Gems and Steven looked at him, as he scowled at Steven and pulled out the Moon Goddess statue out of his Taco backpack. "Looking for this?" He asked with a stern voice.

The Gems gasped. "What? How did you…" Steven tried to ask, but was too surprised.

"While you were packing this stupid doll of yours," said Isaac as he pulled out the Mr. Queasy toy. "You forget to pack the statue!" He threw the toy at Steven.

He caught it, but looked rather guilty and embarrassed.

"Quick, there's no time left!" Pearl exclaimed critically, looking up at the moon as it was about to be right above them.

"What do I do," Isaac asked, putting back on his new backpack.

"Just place it into the pedestal." Garnet pointed at a small, bowl-shaped panel.

Isaac nodded and walked up to the pedestal with the statue in hand. He saw where the panel had a small hole in the center. Figuring that's where the diamond base goes, Isaac placed the statue in it. Even with only a small amount of the diamond in it, it was still about to keep the statue still and from falling over.

After taking his hand away from the state, the group watched in amazement as the pedestal glowed and blasted a ray of light up at the moon. The ray of light shined on the statue, and it began floating out of the hole and up towards the moon.

Only a few feet up, the Moon Goddess statue violently shook. The Gems and humans lot out a short scream.

And then it exploded.

They could only stare at where it once was in silence, before the silence was broken when Garnet said, "Whoops."

Things only got worse when the Spire began to shake violently. Isaac backed away from the pedestal, right before a bunch of cracks formed on the stone floor. "What's going on!?"

But it's out of the frying pan and into the fire for the Crystal Gems. All around the Spire, the waterfall started to move, closing in on the tower.

"The Spire's collapsing!" Garnet exclaimed. "Everyone, keep steady!" But the floor underneath her and Amethyst violent tilted up, causing the purple Gems to fall into Garnet.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Steven freaked out as everything started to come apart. The force and pressure of the ocean were crushing the Spire. Then he was separated from the others when a crack formed between him and the others, and he was thrown back.

"STEVEN!" Isaac tried to save him, but the part of the floor, he and Pearl were on started to break away too. Leaving him unable to reach the boy.

Then he saw a crack form between him and Pearl, and the two tried to reach for each other, but floor splits apart. Isaac and Pearl's hands were unable to grab each other, and they, along with all the other members of the team were pushed away.

Isaac and Pearl were only able to scream, as the sea crushed and tore apart the structure. Each piece was consumed by the ocean, until the light ray was the last thing, and it went out the second everything sunk.

The Lunar Sea Spire was gone, never to return.

All was quiet on the ocean's surface.

After that silent moment, Isaac broke the surface with a big gasp of air. He couched up the salt water that tainted his mouth and throat, as his eyes burned for said water. Rubbing his eyes to clear them Isaac frantically looked around. He was the only one to come up. "STEVEN!" He called out at the top of his lungs. "Garnet! Amethyst! PEARL!"

No one.

Isaac immediately started to fear for the worst.

Just then, to his right, he heard the sound of something breaking the surface of the water mixed with the sound of Steven's voice gasping. Isaac quickly turned and saw the boy only a few feet from him. "Steven!" He exclaimed in relief and swam over to him. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," said the boy with a nod. He then looked around. "Where's…"

The Gems swam to the surface and gasped for air. They were all here.

"What happened?" Isaac asked with a desperate look. "I thought the statue would make things better!"

"It's not your fault, Isaac," Pearl told him. "We pick the wrong statue."

Steven and Isaac looked at her questionably. "What?"

"When we went to get the statue, we were given two choices and we were only able to take one. Besides, the Spire was falling apart when we got here."

"Oh, well that's good to know," Steven said.

But then the human's eyes, filled with horror, were glued to a shark's fin treading above the water, as the shark swam right across them.

"Oh shit," squeaked Isaac, in fear.

But then, bubbles started to form near the group, meaning something was coming up and it was coming fast. The Crystal Gems' amazement, the yellow raft Steven tried to use popped up to the surface.

They stared at it in awe, before Steven shot up his fist and cheered. "Wooo!"

After they all climbed into the raft, Pearl and Amethyst started chanting again at Steven. Isaac was, however, leaning again the edge as he sat in the raft, exhausted. "Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack!"

After searching the horizon, Garnet turned to the other. "It's a three-hour paddle home."

Isaac sighed and sat up. "Hang on," he said and reached into the Taco backpack. He pulled out the combat shovel. It was the best thing that they had to a paddle.

He was about to start paddling, when Garnet stopped him. "I'll paddle," she said, taking the shovel. "You've been through enough for today."

Nodding in agreeance, Isaac leaned against the inside of the raft. Garnet then started rowing the raft towards land. "Isaac," said Steven. Isaac looked at him and saw him with a guilty look as he held Mr. Queasy. "I'm sorry for forgetting to bring the statue."

"Well, it was the wrong statue," said Isaac.

"And even if it was, I was so excited that I left it behind." Steven looked down in misery.

Isaac placed a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, its fine. I'm sorry I got angry at you, but this is just goes to show that you've got to be serious about these missions. Besides, we all make mistakes," he said before grinning. "Even if the Spire was destroyed, you did great for this mission."

That seemed to brighten Steven's mood quickly.

"And it's not just him," said Pearl. Isaac and Steven looked to see her smiling at the blonde. "You were very impressive, Isaac. You were level headed, resourceful, and quick thinking. You both did great."

"Yeah!" Amethyst said with a big grin. "And your Taco pack was also awesome."

Garnet looked over her shoulder and nodded.

"Thanks, guys," Isaac said with a tired smile. He then leaned back and placed his Taco pack behind his head as a pillow. Isaac crossed his arms and exhaled out his nose. "I think I'm going to like being a Crystal Gem."

* * *

 **And there's the third part of "Gem of War"**

 **Taco pack! I decided to give Isaac his own food backpack so that he and Steven could grow closer, and because it's something that I think a good-natured kid like Steven would do.**

 **Why a taco? Because it's the only other thing that's similar to a hamburger. But just like Isaac and Steven, and the things they packed in them, the two foods are completely different.**

 **The big question now is why did Isaac react like that to the symbol of the Diamonds? Why did he get furious? And does it have to do with his mother?**

 **That's it for now. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and if you want me to keep writing this story, then please leave a REVIEW. I would really appreciate it if you do. If you any questions or decisions you'd have for me, then please PM me.**

 **Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.**


	4. Act One: Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: Journey to the Center of the Temple**_

In the morning as the sun raised in the far-off distance, Steven opened the window. Sitting on his knees on the couch under the window, he gazed out at the sunrise as all was quiet in the morning. Isaac's snoring could be heard as the son of Onyx slept on the other couch.

"Everyone's out," Steven said to himself. He then got off the couch and walked over to where Isaac was sleeping with the covers over his head. Steven placed his hands on his shoulder and shook the young man gently. "Isaac, wake up!"

After a sigh, Isaac sat up with a groggy expression. "Steven, what is it," he asked with a tired voiced. "What time is it anyways?"

"It's time to get up. I'm makin' us breakfast," replied Steven.

Isaac was a little surprised to learn he was offering to do that, but smiled gratefully. "Thanks, man. What's for breakfast?"

"I don't know, but could you go find the Gems? I want us to have breakfast together." Steven turned and walked towards the kitchen area. Isaac threw the covers off and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought the Gems didn't need to eat," he said, standing up and stretching. "Something about their bodies not requiring any food or water to survive."

"I know, but I want its always better if it's with others."

Isaac shrugged and went over to the Temple door, while Steven preparing his breakfast.

The door, known as the Temple Gate, was a plain looking door that had a what star with gemstones on each of the five ends that corresponded with each member of the Crystal Gems. For what the Gems told him and what he's seen, it allowed them to travel to their rooms by activating their gemstone. The pink gem belonged to Rose Quartz, the cream gem belonged to Pearl, the purple gem belonged to Amethyst, the red and blue gems belonged to Garnet.

He wasn't sure why she had two gemstones for one room, but didn't question it.

Still in his tank top and workout shorts, Isaac knocked on the Gate. "Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst?" he called to them. But to no response. "Hello? You girls in there?"

"Maybe they're coming back," Steven told him, still working on his breakfast.

Isaac looked back at the Warp Pad and walked up to it. He stared at it for a moment, before giving it a kick. "I don't think they're out on a mission, Steven," he said, not looking at the boy, as Steven brought over whipped cream to his creation.

"Maybe there's still out saving the world," he said, and applied the whip cream to his work. "Look at you, you are out of control!"

Isaac meanwhile opened the door of the house. "Pearl? Garnet?!" He called out. But once again, no response. "Where are they?"

"It's done!" shouted Steven, lifting up his breakfast he made. Isaac quickly ran over and jumped into one of the stools. Ready to eat whatever Steven made. But his excitement melted away into confusion at what Steven placed in front of him. It was a stack of waffles with syrup, covered with some popcorn, with whip cream and a strawberry on top. "Steven, what is this," asked Isaac, poking the breakfast with his fork.

"What do you mean? It's breakfast for all of us. I call it… 'Together Breakfast'."

"Does it even taste good?" After asking that, Isaac and Steven heard the Warp Pad activate and saw it light up.

When the light faded, they saw the Gem that warped into the house was Garnet, who was holding a dark purple scroll of some kind.

"Morning Garnet," Isaac greeted her.

"Hello, Isaac," she replied.

"Ah, Garnet, perfect!" Steven said and picked up the plate and gestured to it. "Check it out!" He then carried the together breakfast out of the kitchen. "It's not exactly healthy, but it's in a stack, so I guess you could say, it's a _balanced breakfast_?" He pulls a face and strained it.

"Boo!" Isaac gave him a thumbs down, not liking the bad joke.

"Aw…" Steven looked down because no one liked his joke, before smiling hopefully at Garnet. "I made us all breakfast. I thought we could eat together. Like, like best buds!"

"I can't stay. There's business to attend to inside the temple," Garnet told him.

"Anything we can help you with," asked Isaac, as Steven sat down the together breakfast.

"I'm afraid not." With that, Garnet turned to the Temple Gate with the scroll tucked in her right armpit.

She held out her hands to the star and made her gemstones light up. This caused the two red and blue gems to glow brightly. Two lines formed before coming together to go downwards all the way, splitting the door into three parts as it opened for her.

"Aw, business? Like what?" Steven complained.

"I have to burn this," Garnet told him and unfurled the scroll.

Isaac was hit with a very unnerving feeling filled him just by the sight of the scroll. It was covered in many strange and abstract symbols/drawings of eyes, hands, and shapes that gave him chills and a dark sensation. It was even worse when whispering could be heard coming from the scroll.

But while he was frightened by it, Steven wasn't bothered at all. "Cool!" he said and took a picture with his smartphone. He then looked at the picture, but Garnet took the phone.

"I have to burn _this_ , too."

"Can't you just delete the image," asked Isaac with a raised eyebrow.

"No." And then Garnet turned and left into the Temple. The door closes behind her and erasing all the lines it made. Leaving no cracks or any signs of entering. It was now just a plain surface that looked like a door.

"No, my apps!" Steven protested while running to the door. But he was unable to get in. He lifted up his shirt and pressed his gem against the Temple Gate. "Door, open, door!"

"I don't think it works like that," Isaac said with a smirk as Steven walked away from the door.

Suddenly, the house door was kicked open. The two were startled and scared when a male police officer with a water gun busted in. "Dumb Police! Uhhh, you're dumb!" The officer said in a fake male voice, before shooting at Isaac with the water gun.

Steven quickly took away the together breakfast, before it could be near Isaac when he was hit in the face with the stream of water. "Ow! What the—?"

Then he was confused when the officer laughed in the voice of Amethyst. His head glowed, before it turned into the head of the all too familiar one of Amethyst herself. "Oh man, I totally got you!" She giggled. "You should've seen the look on your face!"

"What the hell, Amethyst!? Why'd you do that?" Isaac exclaimed with annoyance, before wiping off his face. "Second of all, how did you do that?"

"What, shape shifting," asked Amethyst, before changing back to her normal form. "All Gems can shape shift. By the way, you got something on your shirt."

Standing up, Isaac looked down at his shirt and stretched it. He wasn't aware he was being played before Amethyst hit him again with a blast of water on his tank top, before pointing the water at his face. "Come on, stop!" He protested while trying to shield himself with his hands.

Amethyst just kept shooting water and laughing at him, but stop when she heard the sound of the Temple Gate.

This time, door split into two halves with a wavy, diagonal line and purple light.

"Hey, that's my door!" Amethyst exclaimed, and threw the water gun away, before running towards the door.

When the door opened, it was like as if it had a slimy texture as strains of bubbly goo were pulled apart. It was completely opened when the two halves snapped away from each other.

Walking out of the room was Pearl, carrying a scimitar. She stopped when she opened her eyes and saw Amethyst standing in front of her. "Oh, Amethyst, there you are. Care to explain what one of _my_ swords was doing in _your room_ ," she asked the purple Gem accusingly.

"Having a _sword_ party," said Amethyst like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh _please_ , you took it!"

"I did _not_!"

Isaac then walked up to Pearl. "I didn't know you had a sword," he said in an effort to stop the argument, while looking at the sword she had.

"Oh, yes. You see, I have a fondness for swords," she explained with a smile, holding the weapon up to show him. Its blade aimed at the ceiling. "This one is part of a of my collection, containing various swords from humanity's history."

"Cool, does that mean you have a katana," Isaac asked with excitement.

"A what?" Pearl looked confused.

Isaac blinked at her, a little surprised. "You don't know what a katana is? It's a Japanese sword, and it's the sword I have," he explained while holding up his hand and pointing to his gemstone. "It's also one of the most effective and deadliest swords ever made."

Pearl placed her fingers under her chin to think, liking the sound of this 'katana'. "I'll have to look into that. Thank you for telling me," she said with a smile and swung her scimitar to rest on her shoulder. Amethyst groaned at the two. Pearl then looked down at her with a smug look. "Also, Amethyst, I cleaned up your awful, awful mess. You're welcome."

"You did _WHAT_?! I have a system!" Amethyst shouted and ran into the Temple.

Steven tried to run after her, but the door closed behind her. "Amethyst, wait!"

"What's the matter, Steven," Pearl asked the boy, who was still holding his breakfast creation.

"I wanted us all to have breakfast together. So, I made together breakfast." Steven held up his breakfast to show her. "But everyone keeps leaving."

"Ah, that's nice," said Pearl as she turned to the Temple Gate and made her gem glow.

On the star, her gem glowed too, and her room activated. Pearl's door opened with a glowing blue, straight vertical line with a circle around the star on the door. It opened smoothly, and Pearl walked into her room.

Isaac watched, but wasn't able to see much of the room. Only Pearl walking on water. That was also amazing to him.

Pearl then stopped and sank straight into the into the water.

"Oh no, not you too! I can't let this become together brunch!" Steven proclaimed with a determined face.

"Steven, its fine. Let—" Isaac tried to steer Steven away from doing anything drastic, but it wasn't enough, and the boy suddenly rushed to the Temple. "No, wait!" He yelled and chased after him.

As the doors started to close Steven was able to slip into with ease. Isaac, however, wasn't going to fit in with the gap closing. So, he jammed both his hands in between the doors. He grunted and struggled with all his increased strength, to force the doors open. It wasn't long before Isaac was able to pull them apart all the way. He quickly jumped into the room, before the door shut close at a faster rate.

He panted for a moment next to Steven, before looking up and was left in total amazement.

Pearl's Room was at the top of a waterfall and had a shallow pool with many round-shaped, fountains-like waterfall platforms that were floating above the pool. Up above it, there is a large golden ribbon-esque decoration that splits to all the fountains, and the background consisted of a dark indigo and light purple sky with many red, white, and blue stars.

As Isaac was mesmerized by the sight of the room, his attention was turned to the central waterfall platform. Popping out of the water on that platform was Pearl with her sword. Isaac watched with admiration and wonder as the Gem performed a short, elegant ballet dance like a ballerina. She stopped with one foot placed in front of the other, and floating out of the water around her was a collection of sword.

She smiled at her collection while it rotated around her. It stopped when she grabbed a scabbard with no sword in it, and sheathed the scimitar into it. "Hmm, there we go," she said and smiled satisfaction. But then saw it was crooked and adjusted it until it was straight.

Isaac continued to stare at her with stars appearing in his eyes. He didn't know why, but the way she danced made her look so beautiful.

But the moment was ruined when Steven shouted, "Hey, Peaaaarl!"

Not only was Isaac startled, but Pearl too when she saw the two humans in her room. "Steven! Isaac!" Pearl exclaimed, and her sword collection dropped back into the water. "What are you doing in here? You know it's dangerous for you inside the temple."

She snapped her fingers and reopens the temple door to Steven's house.

"Come on, Steven," Isaac said, placing a hand on Steven's shoulder. "Let's get out before we get hurt."

"No!" Steven suddenly yanked away from Isaac and looked at Pearl, determined. "We're going to have a nice together breakfast, even if I have to get my shoes wet." He stepped into the pool, only for it to not be as shallow as it looked. The water then started moving him forward.

"Alright, that's it!" Isaac wasn't going to put up with Steven's behavior and jumped in too. The water only reached above his waist, and so he started moving towards the boy. Steven saw him enter and tried to swim away.

"Isaac, get _out_ of there!" Pearl demanded.

Steven tried to swim away, but Isaac was able to catch up and grabbed him. "Steven! We are…leaving?" He was getting puzzled when they were still moving. They then saw that they were getting pulled into a descending waterfall. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" He tried to stop himself by planting his feet on the floor of the pool. But all it did was dragged the two to the edge.

Then they went over the edge and screamed.

"Steven! Isaac!" Pearl cried out.

Isaac and Steven frantically tried to paddle backwards, while the boy held up his breakfast. The water then angled itself much steeper, but surprising going at an angle that shouldn't have been possible. And yet, the boys stayed on the waterfall.

"What the?" Isaac stared at the falls in shock.

Then the two were riding down a stream of water that looped, curved, and turned. They were then bounced several times by the falls, before being sent straight down.

"Keep it together, breakfast!" Steven shouted, before the two hit another pool at the bottom.

* * *

On the shore of wherever the two landed, Isaac dragged Steven ashore by the back of his shirt, as Steven's front was facing down at the ground. He still determined to keep his breakfast intact, and he held it over his head.

Panting for what he was subjected to, Isaac just let go of Steven and let him hit his face on the ground. Steven groaned in pain, while Isaac placed his hands on his knees while attempting to catch his breath. "Damnit, Steven…*pant*…we live…through this, I'm gonna kill you," he said to the kid, before looking at where they were.

They were now in some sort of cave. There were on one of many islands that were filled with piles of junk and other belongings that Isaac almost felt obligated to call it a larger version of Greg's shortage unit. The walls of the cave were shining with crystal like formations all around.

"This must be Amethyst's room," he said while Steven picked himself up. Isaac was proven right when he saw the short Gem coming out from behind a messy pile.

Amethyst walked over to a mattress that had a pile of junk on it. She grabbed the mattress and throw it over. She looked at the new mess she made and smiled. "Better…"

"Amethyst," said Steven as he and Isaac walked over to her.

"Oh, hey, you two. Did you come down the waterfall," asked Amethyst before looking upset. "Pearl gets so mad that I have her junk, but it's always falling down here." She gestured to the waterfall that they just came down.

"Junk like what?"

"Junk like... you!" She suddenly picked up Steven while laughing. Steven also laughed, even when Amethyst ran over to a pile. "Imma throw you in the junk pile!" And then she tossed him in the pile. Isaac meanwhile, was trying to search for a way to get out. "Isn't it awful? Pearl organized everything," said Amethyst.

"What are you talking about?" Isaac stopped searching and looked at her like she was crazy. Throwing his arms up, he yelled. "This place is a _biohazard_!"

However, Amethyst took it as a compliment. "Aw, thanks. I try. Boom!" She then kicked a small pile. That's when Amethyst noticed the together breakfast. "Oh, what's that Steven?"

"It's a together breakfast," Steven replied.

"Alright, snacks!" Amethyst reached out to grab it. Steven however, wasn't going to let her and pulled it away.

"No! It's for everyone to eat together. That's the essence of together breakfast."

"Will you forget about the stupid breakfast!" Isaac exclaimed, now getting annoyed with Steven. Especially after falling down a waterfall that defied the laws of gravity. "You heard what Pearl said. We need to get out of the Temple."

"I can show you the way," Amethyst said.

Isaac turned his head to her with a smile. "Really?"

"I'll show you if…you gimme, gimme!" The Gem attempted to take the together breakfast from Steven. But Steven turned and ran away.

Amethyst chased after him, and then Isaac followed. The three chased each other in a corridor.

"We have to eat it together!" Steven shouted back at Amethyst.

Isaac ran after the two, but noticed that the corridor had twisted and they were now upside down.

"What's with this crazy Temple?!" he exclaimed, and didn't stop running, afraid that if he did that he would fall off. Soon the corridor twisted once more, turning the corridor upright.

Amethyst laughed and giggled. "You can't outrun me, we both have short legs!"

"I don't!" Isaac ran fast that pasted Amethyst. Now he was running next to Steven. "Just give it to her the damn thing!"

"No!" Steven protested. They both looked forward and saw that they were running towards the end of the corridor. And it had a drop off.

Isaac and Steven stopped at the edge of the corridor. This time, the humans came to a room filled with floating rocky platforms.

Steven looked behind himself, and saw Amethyst still running after him. Determined to get the together breakfast. "Steven! I'm hungry!"

Still wanting to keep the breakfast until they all have it, Steven jumped onto one of the platforms, before started to hop across more of them. "Just. Hold. On!" He said, before seeing an exit just right in front of him below. "An exit, woo!"

Steven jumped towards it. Isaac let out an irked sigh and started hoping across the rocky platforms after him. Then Amethyst followed after him.

When Steven saw him and Amethyst coming at him, he ran down the next corridor. Isaac landed and ran after him. "Just make another one!"

"You're completely missing the point of this!" Steven told him.

He then ran into a red-tinted room and saw a something that looked like a pole. Steven jumped and clanged to it, and was about to climb up it. But before he could Isaac grabbed roughly by the shirt and pulled him to his face. And boy, Isaac did not look happy.

"Hey, wait a second!" Isaac and Steven looked back and saw Amethyst had entered the room. Instead of joking or mischievous, the purple Gem looked alarmed and frighten.

"Steven, Isaac, there you are!" The two then looked and saw Pearl had entered the room from the other sided.

"Pearl, sweet," Steven said with a smile. "Three out of four."

"Will you forget about the together breakfast for one _sicken second_!?" Isaac exclaimed angrily, shacking Steven back and forth.

While that was going on, Pearl noticed what Steven was clinging to and looked up. What she saw really scared her. "Oh, oh! Isaac, stop shaking him!" Pearl said anxiously to the young man. "You two need be careful!"

Isaac looked at her with a puzzled expression, but stopped thrashing Steven around, which was making him a little nauseous. Isaac then saw that Pearl was still staring anxiously up at something over him and the boy. He followed her gaze, and what he saw made his eyes widen, his mouth gape open, and to release his hold on Steven.

Right above them was a huge, red, crystal structure in the shape of a human's heart. Coming out of the heart were what appeared to be veins that were perturbing from it and attaching themselves to the walls of the chamber. And Steven was clinging to the central vein that went directly down into a hole in the floor. And if there was any doubt of it being a heart, Isaac's ears picked up the sound of rhythmic beating.

"Whoa…" Steven said, also looking up at the heart.

Isaac took a few steps back just to get a better view. Wanting to make sure he was really looking at a heart. "What is that?"

"You _really_ shouldn't be in here, this is the Crystal Heart," Pearl said worriedly. "Oh! It's connected to the most dangerous areas of the temple! Isaac, get him away from that vein!"

"Okay, uh." Isaac slowly approached Steven, now knowing the serious danger they were in. "Steven, just hold on tight and don't look down."

But Steven did the opposite and looked down. Seeing only blackness, he started to get scared and slipped down the vein.

"Hold on, Steven!" Worried about his friend and wanting to save him, Isaac jumped onto the vein and yelled as he slides down. "I'm coming!"

The ride down was dark, but Isaac focused on the sparks that the plate was made against the crystal vein. But Isaac was determined. How, he soon found himself sliding through a bright room with pink clouds. "Oh hey, this isn't so bad," he said, before he was going through darker room.

The sparks stopped. That could only mean Steven stopped too. Isaac tried to stop himself by pushing against the vein with his bare feet. But it didn't do much of anything.

Then the vein curved when he got into the next room, and Isaac's feet were thrown off. The speed of which he was traveling, and the momentum of the curve flung him off the vein, and he landed on the ground. Lucky his efforts to stop himself worked and it led to a nonpainful collision.

Isaac laid on his back and groaned softly for a moment. But when he saw where he was, he sprang to his feet.

Wherever the Crystal Heart's vein took him and Steven, it was likely located deep in the Temple. It was mostly dark, with a boiling lava pit in the center. The wall was covered in more of the veins, but it was floating in the room that really shocked Isaac. The room had some many gemstones floating in bubbles around the ceiling that would be impossible to try and count how many of them there were.

Isaac looked around at the place, but nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Garnet. But luckily, she had her back turned towards him, and he didn't make a sound.

She was standing before the lava pit. Isaac watched and quietly walked around to see what she was doing. He stopped and saw Garnet taking out Steven's phone. The straight forward Gem then snapped it in half and drops it into the lava.

"Aw..." Isaac heard Steven and looked up. He saw the boy still hanging onto the vein as he stood near the base of it. Steven looked over his shoulder at him, and Isaac took the opportunity to gesture for him to come down.

Steven nodded and slides down.

They both watched as Garnet took out the scroll from her armpit. She activated her gems, and the room started to get darker, as she magically commanded the scroll over the pit and unfurled it. The bottom of the evil looking scroll dipped into the lava, and it immediately caught on fire.

Horrible screams emanated from the scroll as Garnet bubbled it. Containing it as it burned.

Not wanting to stay any longer, Isaac was about to place his hand on Steven's shoulder. He wanted to silent tell the boy that they need to leave, but before he could, Amethyst and Pearl dropped down from above.

Pearl grabbed them both by the shoulder, making both boys jump a little until they saw it was her. "Steven, Isaac, we're getting you two out of here," she told them in a whisper.

"Come on," whispered Amethyst.

But while Isaac nodded and was about to leave with them, Steven just wouldn't let things go! "Oh, this is great! We're all together!" He shouted.

It startled Garnet and she looked back at the four. However, it distracted her from the real task at hand, and then the scroll was completely burned up, the smoke pushed against the inside of the bubble. Garnet quickly tried to concentrate and contain it.

Steven continued to be oblivious and shouted. "We can finally eat!" Isaac's gemstone started to glow.

Garnet was again distracted by the boy, but still trying to contain the spirit of smoke, as it tried to break free. "Isaac, take Steven and go!" She ordered, as Pearl and Amethyst rushed over to help her.

"Okay, want to meet in the kitchen," asked Steven.

That proved too distracting for Garnet, and the bubble popped.

Smoke Monster escaped and expand into much larger and powerful form. It tried to smash the Gems, but they jumped back from it. From its fist sprouted several more streams of smoke. One went towards Steven and Isaac, so the blonde quickly summoned his katana and stood protectively in front of the boy.

The Gems followed his example and summoned their weapons. "It's trying to escape! Force it back!" Shouted Garnet, before she attacks the Smoke Monster.

One arm reached out for Isaac, but he quickly cut through it. He looked back and saw Steven was about to be attacked by another one. So, he jumped at the arm and cut it off. It retreated, before Amethyst took over and started whipping at it to make it go back.

Pearl stabbed her spear into the monster, causing it to howl out in pain. Then Garnet punched it.

Suddenly, the spirit made a mad a dash for Steven. Isaac tried to stop with a swing of his sword, but the smoke dodged the attack before hit the breakfast and knocking Steven down.

"Steven, no!" Isaac yelled, worried for the boy's safety.

Steven however, was fine and groaned in pain. But the monster itself straight into the together breakfast.

All was quiet, until the breakfast shook. "Together breakfast," Steven asked it, before he screamed in terror when the breakfast suddenly grew larger and transformed into a massive monster of its ingredients. It then trapped Steven by wrapping him in its syrup.

Pearl threw her spear and stabbed it through the center. But it didn't do anything but distract it. "It's taken refuge in organic matter!" She told the others, before the monster punched her with an arm mixed with syrup and whipped cream.

"Pearl!" Isaac ran to her, as the arm stuck her to the wall. He tried to cut it, but the katana would only go half way through it. It healed itself and sucked the weapon into itself. "Pearl, are you okay?!"

"NO!" She screamed in agony as the whipped cream surrounded and started covering her. "It's horrible!"

The monster then snapped Pearl's spear like a twig.

"Now it has all the power of a breakfast, we have to destroy it," said Garnet before punching the monster. However, she too was stuck in its mass, and Amethyst had to help her pull away from it.

"Steven, I swear! Do you get some kind of _sick kick_ out of putting the two of us in danger!" Isaac yelled at the boy, before the monster formed another arm with his sword at the end of it. He jumped out of the before it could stab him like a scorpion.

"I'm sorry, Isaac!" Steven exclaimed close to tears, as he tried to push the plate pinning him down away. "I didn't want this! I just wanted to eat together like, like best buds!"

"Steven, we are best buds!" Isaac insisted, rolling away from another stab. "You don't need a breakfast for us to be friends! You and the Gems are all friends."

The monster launched a giant waffle at both Garnet and Amethyst. It sent them off their feet before they smashed them against the wall by it.

"Girls!"

 _Cut!_

"AGH!" Isaac screamed in pain when a stab of his sword cuts him deep across his cheek.

When Steven saw the blood and the gash, he gasped in horror. Isaac called him his friend. He saw Isaac as his friend. And he got hurt because of his together breakfast. Steven glared at the monster and started pushing against it. "That's... enough!" He pushed harder, and was able to stand up, while pulling himself out of its sticky syrup trap. "I... don't care if you... are the most important meal of the day!" He started pushing the monster towards the lava well, even though it was pushing back.

It was about to bring Isaac's sword around to stab the boy, but Isaac grabbed the arm and yanked his weapon out of its hold.

Steven was able to step up to the well, and began pushing the plate into the lava. And as he did, he started burning the monster that was on it. "I made you to bring us together... not to tear us apart!"

With one final effort, Steven pushed monster all the way into lava, destroying it.

The syrup that was fighting and entangling Isaac stopped and fell apart all over him. Garnet punched out one of the squares in the waffle, so that she and Amethyst can crawl out. Finally, Pearl was able to pull herself away from the whip cream.

Isaac panted as he made his sword disappear. "Isaac!" Steven ran over to him, worried about his face. "Are you okay? It didn't hurt you too bad, did it?"

Just then, the gash healed with a glow. All that was left was the blood stain on his face. "It's fine," he told the boy and ruffled his hair.

"I'm sorry guys," Steven said as the Gems gather around the boys. "I guess I dream too big."

"How about we order a pizza and have it together?" Isaac offered a grin. Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst voiced their agreeing.

"Please don't make another one of those," Garnet said.

* * *

 **And there's the fourth part of "Gem of War"**

 **I have to be honest, this was one of the episodes where Steven really annoyed me. I know he's still a kid, but he should have taken things more seriously and quit worrying about a breakfast, or trying to get everyone to eat something they didn't want to eat.**

 **Nothing's really changed except for Isaac's involvement.**

 **I'm not going to do all of the episodes of** _ **Steven Universe**_ **. I know that there are a lot of fillers that are just completely unnecessary to the story and I don't like most of the fillers. I'm only doing the episodes that move the story forward, introduce new characters, has character development, and dives deeper into Gems and their culture.**

 **The only reason I decided to do the "Together Breakfast" episode is because it introduced the inside of the Crystal Temple.**

 **That's it for now. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and if you want me to keep writing this story, then please leave a REVIEW. I would really appreciate it if you do. If you any questions or decisions you'd have for me, then please PM me.**

 **Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.**


	5. Act One: Chapter 5

**Chapter 4 review replies**

 **1jesus:** Thanks, and I will.

 **virtexrican:** Thank you, I've actually went back and changed that.

 **LoamyCoffee:** Agree, but luckily Isaac was there to straighten him out.

 **RedHood001:** Thanks. I do try to have them interact not like brothers for the first part of the story, but they'll begin to slowly see each other as brothers. Especially for when they learn about the secrets of both their mothers.

 **Master of the Boot:** I'm glad that you're enjoying this story. For a while, I'll be bringing you all more "Gem of War."

 **Guest (Mercer):** It would kind of help if there were paragraphs in the request. As for the request, I'll have to say no because I don't actually play the _Prototype_ series or have seen _Freezing_. I may look into _Freezing_ and see if I can make something out of it. I've been looking for a series to crossover with _Warframe_ , but I may do some other series for that.

And could you also tell me if you like "Gem of War?"

 **Guest:** I used to play _Destiny_ and _Destiny 2_ , but after many disappointments with the series, I've now switched to playing _Warframe._ And no, I'm not going to do a _Destiny_ and _Star Wars_ crossover. The reason is because I've already got a _Star Wars_ series planned.

 **Guest (M):** I'm placing "Star Wars: Knights of the Galaxy" on hold until I at least finish one of the stories I'm working on. That way I'm not stretching out the time it takes for me to work on the other stories.

 **Nocturne Hurakan:** Well you're in luck, my friend.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5: Frybo**_

After walking out of the house to go to the Big Donut, Isaac walked back to the beach house with a cup of coffee in his hands. He opened the door and said, "Hey, I'm…back?" He stopped when he saw something that really needed answering.

Digging through a pile of laundry was Steven, without any pants. He still had on his shirt and underwear. Just not his pants. "Where are you? Tsk tsk tsk. You're a mess, Steven," he said to himself.

"Steven, where are your pants," Isaac asked, walking over to him.

"I don't know. I had one minute ago, now they're gone," Steven said. The Temple Gate opened, and Pearl came running out of it while carrying a bubble of seven light blue shards suspended in it.

"I know I had eight..." She whispered and looked around the counter of the kitchen. She then turned to the boys. Hey, Steven, Isaac. have you seen a Gem Shard anywhere? It's very important."

"Uh, nope. Haven't seen it," Isaac said, shaking his head.

"No, have you seen my pants," asked Steven. Pearl finally took notice of the lack of pants Steven had on himself. "They're also important."

"What's so important about these Shards things," Isaac asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

"These Shards have a powerful partial consciousness that has been harnessed by Gems throughout history in order to create semi-sentient drone soldiers with the capacity to follow basic orders," Pearl explained while holding up the bubble of shards. Isaac listened carefully, but Steven wasn't paying any attention. More worried about his pants.

"Gems really had a drone army," Isaac asked in amazement. He could only imagine what it would have been like. "That sounds awesome."

"Yes, but Gems found their obedience waned as the shards overdeveloped inside their uniforms and turned on their commanders. You see, any shard imprinted by any sort of container could become a monster. That's why it's very, very important it's kept away from any kind of garment."

Unbeknownst to them, Steven's pants ran on their own near the Temple Gate. Isaac caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eyes, but didn't know what it was. Figuring it was nothing, he turned back to Pearl. "So, what do you need from us?"

"I want the two of you to keep an eye out for the Shard," she told them. Pearl walked over to the door and opened it, before looking back at Isaac and Steven. "If you see it, bring it to me, right away. I'm going to check in town." Without waiting for a reply, she exited the house.

"For my pants," Steven asked, before Isaac lightly smack him in the back of the head.

"Come on, let's get you some pants and find that shard," he told the boy, hearing something taping behind him. Isaac looked over his shoulder and yelped when he saw the living pants hiding behind a corner.

When Steven saw it, he pointed at them. "That's unusual!"

"Get them!" Isaac yelled, before he and Steven started chasing after the pants.

"Come on, we used to be friends! We used to go everywhere together!" Steven ran after the pants, while Isaac attempt to catch by grabbing at them. But every time he did, the pants would dodge and keep running away.

Finally, he grabbed them by top and lifted them up. "What is wrong with these—" Isaac was then getting kicked repeated in the stomach by the pants. Realizing that the Shard most had been in it, Isaac quickly reached into one of the pockets and tried fishing it out while the pants struggled to get free. He succeeded and pulled out the shard, causing the pant legs to pull up before ceasing and going limp.

Isaac threw Steven his pants and he slipped them on. "It's a... thingy," he asked as Isaac had it to him. "Is this Pearl's shard thingy?" The shard glowed, and Steven's shirt was pulled towards it. He quickly held it further away from himself, before grabbing a sock and puts the shard into it. "Ha, now who's smart?"

The sock started repeatedly smacking him in the face.

"Ow, ow, stop!" Steven exclaimed, and Isaac was about to intervene when the sock did as it was told. "Oh... thanks!"

"Come on, kid," said Isaac. "We gotta get that shard to Pearl."

"Right!" Steven nodded and placed the sock into his backpack.

* * *

After the rain had come and gone, the dark clouds still remained over Beach City with no signs of them clearing up. As so Isaac and Steven had put on their wetter weather clothing. Steven wore a pink jacket with yellow rain boots that had white ducks on them. Isaac just threw on a yellow rain poncho over himself and had the hood over his head.

Walking onto the beach boardwalk, Isaac put his hands around his mouth and called out loudly. "Pearl! Hey, Pearl!"

"She must still be looking for my pants," Steven said.

"Kid, she was looking for that shard, not your pants," Isaac told him, before someone rushed and bumped him to the ground.

Steven was terrified when he saw it was someone in a giant, creepy looking mascot costume that was in the form of a smiling cup of fries. The person in the costume screamed like a maniac and waved his arms around, whilst being attacked by a flock of seagulls.

When Isaac sat up and saw the costume, he screamed in terror with Steven, while the boy cowered by him. Definitely not the face he ever wanted to see in a dark alley.

The person stopped running around, grabbed the head of the costume and yanked it off. Revealing the person to be a kid who could've been no older than Steven, with a short stature and has blond, wavy hair on the top of his head that resembled steak fries. He was also missing an upper tooth. "I'm _not_ fries!" He yelled angry at the seagulls and swung the head at them, scaring them off.

As the boy wearing the costume panted in frustration, Isaac and Steven sighed in relief with the conflict over. They then heard a door open and saw it was from the Beach Citywalk Fries.

"Gah, where's your face Frybo," asked Mr. Fryman while standing in the open doorway. "Being part of the Fryman family means you gotta sell fries... and be my son, which you are. So, you're already halfway there."

"Dude, you kid was attacked by those rats with wing!" Isaac shouted at Mr. Fryman, while gesturing to some seagulls that were perched on a street lamp.

"Oh, he's tough enough to fight them off," Mr. Fryman said, mimicking what he said by pretending to swing a weapon. "Keep at it, Frybo!"

The kid's clenched his fist and exclaimed, "I'm Pee…" but before he could finish his sentence, his dad closed the door. He sighed. "…dee."

After picking at his ear, Steven waved at the boy. "Hi, Peedee!"

"When I told my dad I wanted to be part of the Fryman family business, I didn't think it meant being stuck in a sweaty old costume," Peedee miserably explained his dilemma to the two, and puts on the head of the costume. "Things used to be different, Steven, nothing to worry about back then, except making myself dizzy on the old seahorse ride at Funland." He helped up Isaac.

Feeling bad for the kid, Isaac assumed that he and Steven were friends. So, he thought up an idea, and turned to Steven. "Why don't you stay here and help him out?" He suggested and started walking away. "I'll go find Pearl and tell her we found the shard."

"Okay," Steven said, waving as his friend.

* * *

"Peaaaarl!" Isaac called out as he walked down the city's neighborhood. "Pearl!" But there was no answer. He's been searching for about five minutes and he wasn't able to find her.

Suddenly, Pearl jumped down in front of him. This startled the young man, and he yelped. "Isaac? What are you doing out here," she asked, holding up the bubble with the other shards on her right pointer finger.

After placing a hand on his heart to steady it, he let out a short breath and said, "I was just coming to tell you we found the missing shard."

"Oh, that's great," Pearl said with a pleased look. She then held out her free hand for him to place it in. "Then I'll take it."

"Actually, Steven has it," Isaac told her. "I came here to bring you to him."

Pearl eyes an eyebrow and looked at him questioningly. "You left _Steven_ with a powerful and dangerous shard?"

"Yeah, why—" Let's just say that it didn't take long for him to realize how bad that was. "Uh oh. Don't move! Be right back!" Isaac quickly turned and ran down the street. Pearl sighed exasperatedly.

Isaac ran to the boardwalk, where Funland was located and turned down the street to get to the fry shop. But he ran past Steven and Peedee sitting on a Seahorse and a Jellyfish kiddy ride in front of the Funland Arcade. "Hi, Isaac!" Steven waved at them, while Peedee looked disappointed.

Isaac quickly turned around and ran over to them. "Steven!" Isaac grabbed his shoulder and looked at the boy with a desperate expression. "Where's the shard?! Do you still have it!?"

"Wait, that thing you used for the costume," Peedee asked Steven, a little alarmed.

"He did _what_?!"

The conversation was then abruptly cut and ended by a distant scream.

"That came from the fry shop!" Peedee told them, before the kids get off their rides, and the three of them run towards the disturbance. As they headed for Beach Citywalk Fries, the situation changed when people came running out of the restaurant, screaming in terror.

Suddenly two yellow tendrils shot out of the open door. Both of them stretched out a long way and one of them grabbed a person. As the first tendril yanked the person back into the shop, the second one grabbed another person by their head, and dragged him in too.

Isaac, Steven, and Peedee could only watch in horror. "We didn't tell him to do that, did we tell him to do that?!" Peedee exclaimed in panic.

"What _did_ you tell him to do?!" Isaac yelled, his gemstone glowing, before a table was suddenly smashed through the window. The three boys ducked before they could be hit by it, shocked by how close they were to getting seriously hurt.

Then noises that could only have come from their nightmares were coming from inside the fry shop. The three humans looked inside, and Isaac was shocked to see the costume moving on its own, with legs made out of fries, and bulging veins and arteries all over its body. Frybo's fry-hair where the yellow tendrils they saw, and the two other fry tendrils were holding two other people, while the other fries waved around.

With both his hands holding a handful of fries and his back turned towards the boys, Frybo dragged one of his captured victims closer to him. The man, with the tendril wrapped around his next, spit out fries that were stuffed into his mouth and begged, "Please, no more fries!"

But Frybo didn't listen, and started shoving fistfuls of fries into his mouth.

If they don't do something, the man was going to choke on those fries and die. But luckily, Steven intervened. "Frybo, stop!" He demanded.

Frybo did stop, but he also turned towards him. The once innocent and uninitiated creepy smile of the costume changed. With its no flailing fry-hair and bulging veins, Frybo's large smile remained the same has it always has been, but looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

Steven and Peedee flinched. "Oh, man! that's fucked up," Isaac said, also flinching.

Frybo then threw one of his victims at the three. They ducked before Lars could hit them. He was slammed against the table that was thrown out of the shop and laid on the ground, before spitting out the fries his mouth. "I don't even like fries!" Lars yelled and ran off.

"Why isn't he listening?!" Peedee exclaimed.

"I don't know!" Steven exclaimed, both boys panicking. Isaac was about to stand up and attack the costume, but he felt something wrap around his ankle.

He screamed when he was yanked hard by the leg by one of Frybo's tendril and was being pulled into the fry shop. Isaac quickly grabbed the counter and held onto it for dear life.

"Isaac!" Steven yelled.

Isaac grunted and growled, trying to continue holding on. But he was being pulled by the surprising strength Frybo was given by the shard. However, Frybo was distracted when the back door opened, and Mr. Fryman walked in. "Peedee, where's all this coming from?!" He asked.

Seeing his chance, Isaac summoned his weapon and cut himself free of the fry tendril. He quickly climbed over the counter and hid under it. With his previous victim escaped. Frybo shot a tendril at him, ensnaring the man and started dragging him slowly towards him.

"Ah, I get it, I pushed you too hard," said Mr. Fryman, struggling to get the fry around his neck off. Peedee peeked over the counter to watch. "I thought you wanted to be as good a Fryman as you could be, you're a tough kid for putting up with it as long as you did! The truth is…you're a valued member of Fryman Brothers Incorporated and all of its affiliates!"

This truly touched Peedee. Mr. Fryman was then lifted off the ground, before having fries stuffed into his mouth.

"Dad!" Peedee cried, breaking into tears. He lunged towards the window to save his father, but Steven tackled him to the ground.

"No! He'll mash your potatoes!" Steven said, before he and Isaac got up, heading for the window.

"What are you going to do?"

While Isaac summoned his weapon and jumped into the fry shop, Steven time his body towards Peedee and stood proudly. "My job!"

 _Pow!_

"AAAHHH!" Isaac screamed as he was thrown out of the window. Slamming into the table, it broke in half on impact, and Isaac laid there, groaning in a great amount of pain. Then Frybo chucked Mr. Fryman, who promptly landed onto the younger boys. This pinned and immobilizing them under the man, as Mr. Fryman was knocked unconscious.

Isaac turned over on his back and sat up, he saw Frybo starting to leave the shop by stepping out of the window.

"Isaac!" exclaimed the voice of Pearl. She ran over and helped him get back on his feet. She was just about to ask him what happened and if he was okay, until she saw the living costume. "Steven! Did you put my missing shard in that fry costume?"

"Yes!" Steven exclaimed, rolling on his stomach while still under Fryman.

"Didn't you hear what I said about the living armor and infantries and many, _many_ deaths?!"

"No!"

"Oh, Steven." Pearl sighed in disappointment and summoned her spear. Twirling it around in her hand, she then leaped onto one half of the broken table with grace, and threw the spear.

It flew through the air and stabbed right into Frybo's eye. He let out an agonizing squeal, but then, his eye burst out ketchup and mustard as if it was blood.

The steam hit Pearl in the face, knocking her back and she dropped the bubble of shards. While it the bubble dropped and popped on the ground, Isaac quickly caught the Gem and saved her. "Pearl, are you okay," he asked, setting her down and laying her against the table. Steven was able to get out from under Mr. Fryman, and ran over to see if she was okay.

"Ugh, the ketchup! It's everywhere, I can't see!" She said with eyes shut, turning her head from left to right.

Isaac turned to Steven. "Stay here with her. I'll deal with Frybo." He then ran out from behind the table and charged at the Frybo.

Frybo had emerged from the shop with the spear still in his eye, and approaches the Fryman father and son. However, he was stopped when Isaac tackled the living costume and stabbed it with his two swords. The force in which Isaac ran and stabbed the monster caused it to be pinned to the wall by the weapons. Fries started pouring out of Frybo's mouth.

Isaac summoned another katana and started hacking and slashing into the costume, making it bleed more ketchup and mustard. However, Frybo grabbed him by the arms and lifted him up.

Suddenly and out of nowhere, a pair of pants jumped at the costume and kicked Frybo, right in the face. This made the monster drop Isaac, and he looked back to see where the pants came from.

Steven stood tall and proud in defiance in just his underwear and a fry in his mouth. Around him stood his socks, shirt, pants, shoes, and jacket that were standing beside him. Isaac knew that he must have put the shards in each of them to make himself a small army. He grinned. The kid knew how to be clever, that's for sure.

"Your move, Frybo," Steven said, eating the fry.

Frybo tried to attack him, but the swords still pinned him to the wall.

"Attack!"

All the garments leaped at Frybo, they grabbed his arms and a few of his tendrils. They held onto them and prevented Frybo from moving them.

Isaac saw his chance and charged. He slashed down the middle of the costume, causing fries, ketchup, and mustard to gush out of it. Isaac made the sword in his hand disappear, and then grabbed and ripped the costume open where he cut. He punched his fist into the mess of food Frybo was made out of and grabbed the shard.

With a firm grip, Isaac placed both his feet on the body of the monster costume, as it struggled, and pulled. It wasn't easy to get, but the blonde ripped the shard right out of Frybo.

He fell onto the ground where Pearl was feeling around on the floor. The body of Frybo went limp, and he stopped moving. Letting all the food in him pour out of the middle cut.

"Steven, are you alright," Pearl asked, still unable to see and started touching Isaac's face.

This made Isaac blush, because the feeling of her hands was soft and smooth. However, not wanting for her to be misled, Isaac licked his thumb and used it to wipe her left eye. Though it was only one eye, Pearl opened her left eye and stared down at him.

The two froze after Pearl saw she was touching the blonde. "Oh! Isaac!" Pearl yelped and quickly took her hands off him. Blushing in embarrassment as Isaac handed her the shard he pulled out.

After Isaac stood up and Pearl wiped her face with the table cloth and bubbled the shard, the two walked over and joined Steven, Peedee, and his dad as they shared at the destroyed and dead Frybo costume. "Good work, Steven," Isaac said, before doing a simple hand wave that made the two katanas stabbing and pinning the costume disappear. Frybo then slide down the wall and fell over on his side. "And ah, sorry about the costume."

"It's fine," said Mr. Fryman. "I'm just glad everyone's okay."

"What are you going to do with it," Steven asked, still only in his underwear.

* * *

Later that day, as the sun was starting to set over the horizon, Steven's garments carried the cleaned and destroyed remains of the Frybo onto the beach. They brought it to where Isaac, Steven, Pearl, and the Frymans had set up a makeshift raft to give the costume a Viking's funeral.

After the garments set him in the boat, Mr. Fryman started giving Frybo a sermon. "You were great, Frybo. The kids today just didn't understand. Now, they never will," he said, almost brought to tears.

Pearl stood with her spear next to Steven and Isaac. Steven was still half naked, while Isaac held a torch. "Weren't people scared of it before he attacked them?" She commented, before Steven shushed her.

"Just let him have this moment," whispered Isaac.

"It's time to send him off." The father nodded to Isaac. Getting the sign, Isaac walked to the boat and used the torch to light Frybo on fire, before throwing the torch into the raft. He stepped back, and Pearl used the end of her spear to push it out to sea.

As they watched the costume slowly float away, Fryman sighed. "As greasy in death as he was in life."

"Dad?" Peedee walked over to his father. "Uhm... I'll, are you going to get another costume," he asked, as the two seemed to have a hard time looking at each other.

There was a pause for a moment. "I don't need another Frybo, I got…" Mr. Fryman put his arm around his son's shoulder. "…the fry _man_." They both smiled at each other.

Steven turned to Isaac and Pearl with a smile as if he won a video game. He posed heroically while still half naked. "Isaac, Pearl, I think our work here is done."

Pearl and Isaac frowned. "Put your clothes on, Steven," the Gem told him.

* * *

 **AN: And there's the fifth part of "Gem of War"**

 **Hey everyone, it's Cowboy Alchemist. I know that I promised to do a second update from "Become ONE," but I've decided to go back and work on this story for a while.**

 **The reason for this is quite interesting. I'm not going to go into the details, but sometime between December 11th to December 14th, I'll be posting on DeviantArt something that I've been working on for a while now.**

 **A fanart profile of Onyx, aka, the Gem of War.**

 **I've been wanting to do a fanart of this character for a while, and let's just say that I've been given an opportunity to do it. And so, I've decided to update this story all the way to the episode "So Many Birthdays" in which I'll finally show Onyx's true form to you all. I'll provide a link to the site if Fanfiction allows it.**

 **That and also Steven Universe: Diamond Days will be coming up soon, so I'm excited for that.**

 **On to the next chapter…**


	6. Act One: Chapter 6

**1jesus:** Thanks!

 **LoamyCoffee:** Very true, but at least we see Isaac in action again.

 **Dcraus:** I was kind of interested in the Witcher crossover instead, but I'll make NO promises. Also could you also tell me if you enjoyed the chapter? I really need the impute to keep going with these stories.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 6: Cat Fingers**_

Isaac has finally seen it. The one vehicle that was he would consider to be the most ridiculous looking.

A week has pasted after the events of Frybo going on a rampage, and today, Isaac and Steven were at Greg's carwash. The father called and asked if the boys could help out. He was tasked with washing the van of Beach City's mayor, Bill Dewey. They were luckily available to help, and they raced over to get to the carwash. Once there, they got to work.

The van bared a resembles to a pest control truck, with microphones, Dewey's logo, signs that said "Re-Elect", and the icing on the cake was the giant head of the man on top.

After completely applying soap on the left side of the vehicle, Greg turned on the water hose. "Almost done!" Greg said to Steven and Isaac, while spraying the van with water. Isaac was washing the roof, with the son cleaning the tires hubcaps. "Steven, get the hubcaps!"

"Hubbing it up!" Steven exclaimed, and rubbed the hubcaps faster and harder.

Greg then looked up at where Isaac was hosing down the soap his just washed onto the roof. "Make sure to do a thorough job, Isaac. This is a high-profile job," he told the young man. Isaac responded by giving him an 'ok' gesture.

"You mean because it's the mayor's election-mobile," asked Steven.

"I honesty thing this is his only car," Isaac said, before turning off the hose and tossing it down, and then sliding on the roof. He's seen Dewey driving around the streets of Beach City in only this van.

"If we do this right, we might get political favors!" Greg said to indies his son with the idea.

"I'm not sure what that is, but I like it!" Steven grabbed the hose Isaac used and sprayed it. However, instead of hitting the van, the water hit Greg by mistake. The man laughed and hits him back with his water, and they started to have a hose fight. Father and son laughed together as Isaac smiled and watched.

Then the mayor himself came walking over. Bill Dewey had balding dark-brown hair and coral skin. He wore a light violet-gray coat with a beige collared shirt underneath, a dark-violet necktie tie, gray-brown pants, black socks, chocolate-brown shoes, and black shoelaces with dark-violet stripes. "Hey, hey, hey! I'm not paying for father-son bonding here!" He stated, before being hit in the face with water by Steven. After Isaac grabbed the hose from Steven and turned it off, Mayor Dewey wiped the water off of himself. "Universe! Control that kid!" He demanded, pointing to Steven.

"Steven!" Greg scolded his son and stood behind him. "Hehe, I'm sorry, Mayor Dewey. Hehe, this one's on the house."

Mayor Dewey stared at his van. "On the house, eh." He then turned and pointed to Greg. "I like the way you do business, Universe." He then climbs into the car and started driving away. As he drove, the sirens turned on and started chanting _'Mayor Dewey'_.

"Man sure has an ego," Isaac said, as Greg sighed in relief. The three of them were then suddenly splashed by a blast of water. Isaac turned to Steven with an aggravated expression. "Steven, enough of the…"

It wasn't Steven who splashed them. It was, however, a strange looking purple cat holding the hose. The cat then started chasing Steven and Greg around while continuously spraying them.

However, it was brought to a stop when Isaac stepped on its tail. This cause it a bit of pain from the suddenness of the step, but the blonde didn't do it too hard. "Amethyst, I know it's you," Isaac stated.

Knowing that she was caught, the cat glowed whitish purple and Amethyst turned back into her normal form. See her in her normal form while on her hands and knees, Isaac took his foot off her hair. Amethyst then took the hose out of her mouth and laughed. "Got you guys!"

"Amethyst!" Steven exclaimed with excited stars in his eyes.

Greg however chuckled, a bit uncomfortable by her shape shifting. "Uh, pretty cool, Amethyst."

"What are you doing here?" Isaac demanded with his hands on his hips. Not all too happy with being blasted in the face with water.

"Aww, come on. Can't I have fun with my two favorite guys," Amethyst asked mockingly with a fake sweet voice, while standing up. "And Greg."

"Okay!" Steven exclaimed excitedly. "I wanna shapeshift like you!"

"Sure, you could probably learn," Amethyst told him, tying the hose into a knot.

"Really," asked Isaac, raising an eyebrow. Was that even possible? And if so, that would be awesome!

"Sure." Amethyst threw away the hose, and grabbed Isaac's right hand. She held up the back of his hand and pointed to the Onyx gemstone. "You've got a gem."

Greg's arms shot up. "Whup! Magic stuff. Should I get out of here," He asked, rubbing the back his balding head. "Is there going to be an explosion?" Isaac made a note in his head that that may be why he's half bald.

"Oh, it's no big deal dad," Steven assured him, before Amethyst shape-shifted into the boy—only she was still purple.

"Yeah, it's fine," she said in a playful, mocking way. While Isaac rolled his eyes, and shook his head with a small smirk, Greg was a little freaked out and yelped.

* * *

The trip back to the Temple was not very eventful, but Amethyst took great pride in her shape-shifting that she did it the entire time back to the house. "Hey Pearl," Amethyst said to Pearl, while the thin Gem was looking through a microscope. Pearl looked blankly and a little irked as her trouble-making comrade shape-shifted into a seal. "Arp, arp!"

Steven laughed, while Isaac sat down on the couch and watched with a smile. He wasn't as excited to see what she would turn into, but was entertained nonetheless. "Do more!" exclaimed Steven with a big grin.

"Check it out." Amethyst obligated and started shapeshifting. Pearl also watched, but with a blank expression. The purple Gem turned into a wolf and howled. Then she was a big wrestler. Finally, Amethyst shapeshifted into a jay. She flew around before perching herself on Steven's head. Resting in his curly hair.

"Whoa!"

"Eh, I give it an eight," Isaac said, shrugging his shoulders jokingly.

"Please don't encourage her," Pearl scolded the blonde before walking up to Amethyst and Steven.

"Uh, chill it, dude," Amethyst replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Just because you can shapeshift, doesn't mean you should."

"Can you shapeshift," Steven asked curiously.

Pearl smiled proudly and placed a hand over her chest. "Well of course…"

But then Amethyst cuts in by turning into the thin Gem. "Well of course I can, I'm perfect!" She replied with a fake voice that mocked Pearl's, who looked at her in disgust. Amethyst then broke character and started hitting her butt at Pearl. "WOMP! WOMP!"

Pearl's attention was caught when Isaac started laughing. She glared at him as he tried to stop himself. "Heh heh, okay, that was actually kind of funny."

Groaning as Amethyst laughed, Pearl pushed the purple Gem to the side. Amethyst continued laughing as she tumbled away. " _All_ Gems have shapeshifting powers," she told Steven and Isaac. She projected a hologram to help show her point. "We can turn into objects, we can change parts of our bodies or..." she cut the hologram when she shut her eyes and clenched her fist. Pearl then turned towards Amethyst. "…we could do that."

"WOMP! WOMP!" Amethyst, still as Pearl, continued spanking herself.

"Ah, cool!" Isaac exclaimed, standing up. He then started using his arms in various chopping motions. "Does that mean I can turn my arms into blades?"

"Unfortunately, Isaac…" Pearl paused for a moment, as if trying to tread a very sensitive subject. In her mind, she wondered how she was going to explain without revealing too much to him, or even Steven and Amethyst. "…your mother, Onyx, wasn't able to shape-shift."

That stopped Isaac from moving his arms. Even Amethyst stopped and turned back into her normal form, surprised to hear what Pearl said. "What do you mean," she asked.

"I'm…not sure why." That's a lie. She knew exactly why. "But Onyx's never had the power to shapeshift her body," Pearl explained, before projecting another hologram. This time, the hologram showed them Isaac's sword. "She was, however, able to transform her sword into various other melee weapons." The hologram showed the katana glowing before turning into a battle awe. Then into a spear. "This was one reason why she was such a great fighter."

"Wow!" Isaac's face showed his wonder, with stars in his eyes. "Can you show me how to do it?"

"Yeah, and I can still shape-shift," Steven asked. "I want to try it all!"

"Don't bite off more than you can chew, Steven," Pearl told him, before looking at Isaac. "And I'm not exactly sure if I'll be able to, but I'll be happy to help!"

"Aww~" Amethyst placed her hands on her cheeks and looked mockingly and teasingly that them. "Pearl, that's so sweet~!"

Isaac and Pearl flushed, but the latter blushed more. "Quiet, you!" She yelled, but it only caused Amethyst to burst out into laughter. Embarrassed, the slender Gem glared at the shorter one. "Ugh! Let's go, Isaac!" She grabbed the blonde's arm, and started dragging the young man with her. Pearl opened the door, and the two exited the house.

* * *

Pearl and Isaac were now walking away from Beach City, crossing a field and heading towards a forest. "I'm not really sure how to do this with you, Isaac," Pearl told him. She walked in front of him with her spear summoned and held it in one hand. "Normally, we're only able to change the size of our weapons."

"Wasn't mom with you guys," he asked. "Didn't she tell you how she changed her weapons?"

"Yes, but she never stayed with us for long," Pearl explained to him, as they entered into the forest. "It was only to reach a common goal. But after that, she parted ways with us to find her place in the world. Travel all over the globe."

"Whoa, really?" Isaac followed close behind her, as they continued trekking deeper into the forest. It was pretty cool that she wanted to travel the world. Why didn't dad tell him that? But then a new question came up. "So why are we out here? Why not do this in the Temple?"

"As you're probably already aware of, the Crystal Temple, and in affect Beach City, attracts many monsters. So, we usually do patrols in order to make sure that they don't harm anyone." They came into an open space in the forest, where the sun shined brightly on the grass and brightened its colors. It was a serene and peaceful area that entranced Isaac. Some much so that he also didn't notice Pearl stop and turning towards him with her arms behind her back.

"Some…we're here to find monsters," he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's correct." Pearl nodded, smiling knowingly. "I know it's not safe and we're putting ourselves in danger, but I know of no other way of summoning your weapon, Isaac."

"I'm cool with it. I'll just wait and see if we're attacked," Isaac told her with a quick shrug. He then sat down on the ground. "That sounded so much cooler in my head."

Pearl giggled a little. She didn't know why, but somehow Isaac was just able to make her laugh at some of his small jokes and comments. She decided to sit down with him and wait.

The two friends just sat there in silence as they looked around the forest. Keeping on alert for any danger. However, they became lost in their thoughts and began admiring the natural beauty of the forest. Butterflies flying over their heads. Groups of squirrels running up a tree, after collecting some for the group. And two birds taking off and flying into the air.

Isaac took it all in with a big smile, but he soon found himself staring right at Pearl. The light of the sun and the serene environment truly brought out a side of her he's only seen in rare moments. Pearl now looked not only graceful, but she was beautiful. But then something popped into his head. Something that he's been wanting to know for a while.

However, he was brought out of his state when his gemstone started glowing. "Pearl!"

Pearl whipped her head back towards Isaac, and saw his glowing gem. "Summon your weapon, I'll take on the monster," she instructed him, conjuring her spear. She then ran off and disappeared into the trees.

Isaac nodded and summoned his katana. The more he spent with the Gems, the more he started to notice that then they summon their weapons, their gemstones make a distinct sound. Garnet's gauntlets made a vibrating metal-like sound. Pearl's spear made what he could only describe as unique shining sound. And Amethyst was more of a whipping sound, of course. But for Isaac's weapon sound, it was more of like steel cutting through metal. **(AN: just think of the sword sound effect from** _ **Samurai Jack**_ **.)**

Fighting could be heard between in the direction Pearl ran off in. Isaac got up on one knee and was about to run and help, but right when he got to his feet, the sound of the monster poofing was heard.

Pearl walked back to the opening with the gem of the monster bubbled. "Alright then," she said, making the bubble disappear by tapping the top. "Let's get this started."

Isaac nodded, and the two sat back down with their legs crossed.

 **(Play music:** _ **A Way of Life**_ **– Hans Zimmer)**

"Now, close your eyes and clear your mind."

Obeying her instructions, Isaac closed his eyes and cleared his mind.

"We'll start with something easy," Pearl told him, then saw his shoulders a little tense and smiled. "And relax. It's okay to fail. After all, you're only starting this." He let out a long breath and loosen up. "Now, in your head, think about what you want the katana to be now."

Isaac thought for a moment, wondering what he should do for his first time. But figuring that he should start off small, Isaac knew what to do. "Okay, I got it."

"Go, now all I can do is observe," Pearl said, straightening her back and stared at Isaac and his sword. "It's up to you to determine what happens."

Isaac nodded. He had the katana resting on his lap, so he grabbed the handle and placed his hand on the black and white blade. His body tensed up as he tried to force the change. But nothing happened. The sword remained the same way it's always been.

Remember what Pearl said, Isaac inhaled a deep breath of air, before exhaling it out. Clearing his mind of all thoughts of failing in front of Pearl and anxiousness of being attacked by another monster, Isaac then took in the image of his katana in his head. Already familiar with the image of the sword, he took in all of its details. Isaac then focused and concentrated on the shape of the katana, before imagining it changing its forms.

This way proved to be effective.

Gasping with wide eyes, Pearl watched in amazement as the Japanese started shining a bright white. But she was still able to see the shape of the katana, as it was now completely black. Like it was a silhouette.

The shape of the katana started to change. The handle extended and became longer, as well as the blade.

A second later, and the weapon was complete. Isaac opened his eyes and looked down. He gasped with wide, star-filled eyes at the sight of his success. He grabbed the new weapon, shot up to his feet, and held it victoriously over his head. "I did it, yes! This is awesome!" He exclaimed happily.

Pearl, however, looked confused. "You wanted to make your sword longer?"

Isaac stopped cheering and looked at her, as Pearl stood up. "What, no. This is a Japanese ōdachi," he explained. He held out the great sword to Pearl. She took the sword and examined it carefully, seeing that other than the length of it, the weapon's design hasn't changed all too much. "Just like katanas, these things were used by the samurai of ancient Japan."

"Samurai?" Isaac looked a little surprised at Pearl, as she held the mighty weapon with both hands. How could she have not heard about the samurai?

"You don't get out too often, huh? The samurai were basically like the knights of ancient Japan. They served their master with a code of honor like chivalry called Bushidō," he explained the warriors of a time long past. "They held bravery, honor, and personal loyalty above life itself."

Pearl heard every word and took it all in, looking at her barely seeable reflection in the blade of the sword. Thinking back to days long past. How did she not hear about these people—these samurai? She knows of chivalry and lived her life in the service of the one she loved.

If she was still here, would Rose call her a samurai?

"Pearl?" Startled, Pearl whipped her head around to see Isaac looking at her with a worried look. "You okay," he asked. "You spaced out there for a moment."

That caused a blush on her cheeks and across the bridge of her nose. "O-Oh yes! Yes, I am!" Pearl replied loudly with embarrassment. She laughed sheepishly for a moment and handed Isaac the ōdachi. "Sorry, I…I was just admiring the ōdachi sword."

Though he knew that it was something else, Isaac took the great sword, made it disappear, and didn't questioned her any further. "Thank you, Pearl," he said with a grateful smile. "For everything."

Pearl waved it off. "It's nothing, really."

"I'm not just talking about helping me with my weapon," Isaac then told her. "I mean you and the Gems barely know me, and you yet you're helping me with…so much."

At first a little taken back by the sincerity of his words, Pearl smiled at his genuine thanks. She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "And thank you for being with us and Steven," she said with a gentle voice.

The half-human and alien being stared at one another with smiles. Not realizing that they were even staring in each other's eyes.

 **(End song here)**

 _[Pearl and Isaac, come in!]_

The silence was brought to a predictable end when Garnet's voice came from Isaac's Taco pack. He and Pearl blushed brightly and turned away from each other. _'What in the world was that!'_ Pearl shouted in her head, grabbing her head. _'What were we just doing?'_

Isaac reached into his backpack and pulled out a walky-talkie that he had in it. He must have left the second one in the house. "We're here, Garnet. What's up," he asked into the radio.

 _[I need the two of you to get back here quickly. A small island was brought to life by a gem and is heading for Beach City. We're going to stop it.]_

"You want the five of us to fight…an island. In the middle of the ocean," Isaac asked Garnet like it was the stupidest thing he's ever heard. In his head, he could already see that just being an instant one-sided fight. They'd just be hitting sand, rocks, the ground, and maybe even some trees.

 _[We don't have a choice. This is a tectonic emergency. Come on back and we'll go in the Gem Sloop.]_

Isaac then said, "Okay, but it's going to take a while before me and Pearl…" he stopped talking when Pearl jumped off the ground and went high up into the air.

Leaving him all alone.

"Right, you guys can do that."

* * *

Isaac ran as fast as he could to the Crystal Temple, panting in exhaustion as he didn't stop for a moment. By the time he reached the Temple about 10 minutes later, Isaac saw Pearl already in a small boat with three light blue facet-shaped sails that resemble gems, a dark blue mast, and body. Garnet was standing on the dock (that wasn't there before) and holding the mast to push it off, while Amethyst walked towards the boat to get in.

Pearl noticed Isaac approaching them as he stopped to slow down, stumbling a little with each step. "What took you," she asked, as Isaac fell to his hands and knees a couple feet away from the boat.

"Well, sorry I can't jump like you guys!" Isaac snapped angrily at her. He then got up to his feet and stumbled his way to the boat. Amethyst laughed at his misery, after getting in herself. Isaac climbed into the Gem Sloop and glared at her while exhaustedly panting. "Oh, shut up, Amethyst!"

"Knock it off. We're off," Garnet told them, before pushing the Gem Sloop off the dock before jumping in, rocking the boat. With that, the Gem Sloop started drifting towards the living island.

"WAIT! WAIT!"

Hearing the familiar child voice, Isaac quickly sat up and looked back towards the shore. The Gems and him saw running across the beach and running down the beach then the dock.

"WAIT!" Steven yelled and jumped off the dock and into the ocean. He was now wading through the water though the water to get to the Sloop.

"Steven?" Isaac exclaimed, surprised to see him.

"Steven!" Pearl called.

Amethyst laughed for a moment. "C'mon, you can make it!" she exclaimed encouragingly.

Steven was able to catch up and Isaac reached out an arm to pull him in. Steven hand grabbed his and dunked his other hand into the water at the same time. "OW! Son of a bitch!" Isaac exclaimed in pain and pulled his arm away when he felt multiple shots of pain in his arm.

Isaac then heard what sounded like cats and looked at Steven. He was puzzled to see that all of his fingers had the heads of cats that were all alive.

"What the fuck?" He said, while the Gems gasped at Steven.

"Language!" Pearl snapped at Isaac, before looking at Steven. "Steven, what's going on?"

"Waah! I-it's nothing!" Steven exclaimed his answer, really wanting to go. "I-I just turned all my fingers into cats!"

"Why!?" Isaac retorted.

Amethyst snorted and Pearl turned to Garnet. "We have to stay and help Steven!"

"We can't. This is a tectonic emergency," Garnet told her, determined to finish the mission. "Isaac will stay behind." Isaac looked at her in shock. "We'll deal with Steven when we get back."

Isaac sighed. "Fine," he groaned, and then jumped water, which went all the way up to his chest. "Christ, this water's cold!"

They watched him wadded through the water towards Steven as the Gem Sloop drifted further away. Pearl then turned to Amethyst and glared at the purple gem. "Amethyst, I blame _YOU_ for this," she said, pointing an accusing finger at her.

Amethyst shrugged. "Eh, that's fair."

"Grrr!" Pearl growled in frustration.

"Hey, wait! What am I supposed to do!?" Isaac called back to them after reaching where Steven was. He had absolutely no clue how to handle this at all. How was he going to get the boy's fingers back to normal?

"Just try to keep Steven calm!"

Right, like that was going to go easily.

* * *

When Isaac was able to get Steven back into the house, he tried to follow Pearls command and keep Steven from panicking. However, that was turning out to be a challenge as the cat seemed to have become more restless and were meowing louder and more frequently.

"Enough!" Steven yelled at his cat fingers. Isaac was standing nearby, looking with an anxious expression. "No more cat fingers! I want Steven fingers! ... And I don't mean little me heads on fingers, I mean my REGULAR fingers!"

Isaac kneeled down and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Okay, kid. Let's calm down," he told him in an attempt to ease the boy. "Why not just do the same thing you did when you made the first cat finger?"

Steven took his advice and breathed in. "You're right. I've got to stay calm," he said, placed his hand on his head. But when he removed his hand, the spot he placed it on his head turned into a cat's head. It meowed.

Isaac and Steven screamed in shock. The boy tipped and nearly fell over, but Isaac caught him by grabbing his arms. "Dude! What's going—Whoa!" Isaac yelled in shock when Steven's arm turned into a cat.

Steven saw it and screamed. "Wha! Aahhh! Stop!" He begged to his power, before his foot turns into a cat. The now scared boy fell over on his back.

"Steven!" Isaac quickly crouched down next to him. But when he placed his hands on him, he retracted them when another cat popped out. He could only watch in terror as more cats started to form on Steven body. Now it was spreading like an infestation.

With no control of his body and powers, and laying on the floor, Steven looked at Isaac with pleading and helpless eyes. "Isaac!" He exclaimed, sounding more scared than he's ever been. "Help!"

"What do I do!" Isaac exclaimed, grabbing his head.

"I don't know! Cut them off with your sword!"

"No! I could hurt you!" Isaac grabbed the boy by the shoulders. He really didn't know what to do. He hated this. Unable to help his friend in his time of need. Isaac grabbed one of the cat heads hard and started pulling. He wanted to yank it out of Steven, but didn't what to. For all he knows, it could really harm the boy.

But suddenly the arm that turned into a cat bit down on his arm. Isaac yelled in pain, before being suddenly thrown upwards. Hitting against the ceiling and fell back down. The collision with the floor on his back was just as agonizing.

"Isaac!" Steven tried to hobble over to him, but more cats started popping out, making him fall onto his hands and knees. But then, an idea came to Steven that made him gasp. "Dad!"

"What?" Isaac sat up while rubbing the back of his head.

"I have to get to dad!" Steven told him. "Isaac, help me get to him!"

"What can Greg do!?"

"I-I-I don't know! But please! He may be able help!" Steven exclaimed with pleading and frightened eyes. Isaac was silent for a moment, before nodding with a determined look.

* * *

This was bad. Despite Isaac's best efforts in pulling the boy and shepherd him to the carwash, the cats were resisting and fighting back. Biting and trying to throw him off. This made the journey stretch for about an hour and the sun had already gone down.

Walking down the dark street while enduring more bites from the, Isaac saw the carwash just a head. And to their luck, Greg was standing there in front of it. Hosing the ground while singing along to his headphone music.

"Just keep walking forward," he told Steven, before letting go of him. This prompted the cats to release their hold on him too, and Isaac ran towards the man. "GREG!"

Startled and shaken, Greg snapped his head towards the direction he heard his name being called. He was shocked when Isaac ran into the night of the neon sign. The young man's clothes were torn in many places. Bit marks were all around his arms and were still being healed. He was also bruised up with scraps and cuts for the many times he was thrown by the cats.

"Isaac," he asked as Isaac stop a few feet from him. "What happeeennnooaaaah!" He yelled in shock and terror as Steven crawled into the light as well. The transformation was so bad that the heads were larger and were covering almost all parts of the boy's body.

Fearing for his life, Greg turned up the hose and sprayed Steven with the water. This caused the cats to meow angrily, and the now mass of feline heads to roll back.

"Greg, wait, stop!" Isaac quickly ran and shielded Steven from the water, thinking that it was hurting him. He then rushed and pushed the hose away. "It's Steven! It's Steven!"

"Huh!?" Greg looked back at the cat heads and saw them shrinking and even some going away completely. And it was then that he saw the face of his only son in between the cats and gasped. "Steven?"

Looking at his father, Steven stared at him with the same look of genuine fear and sadness he gave Isaac, only this time his eyes teared up. "Dad!" He then groaned as more cats grow on his body again. "Help! The cat fingers are taking over my body!" He begged, and even more head appeared.

"Hold on, wha- I'll get you out of there!" Greg exclaimed, and attempt to push away the cat heads to get to his son.

Isaac's eyes widened. "No, wait!" He was about to stop Greg, but it was too late. The one of the cats chomped down on the man's arm and threw him to the side. "Hey! Back off!" Isaac grabbed two heads, but was headbutted in the chest. Knocking him down to the ground.

"No! Bad! Bad cat fingers!" Steven scolded to his cat fingers as he stepped away from Isaac.

However, when he stepped in a water puddle, the cats got made and their hair shot up. They then made Steven jump high up to the roof. But he slipped on his landing, and was now hanging off the corner of the roof.

Greg stood up and looked at Steven. "Can't you make them go away?"

"I tried, but it made it worse!" Steven told him. Isaac and Greg could only watch as more cats grew. Some growing even larger than before. "Ohh, my life is over! I can't go on magic adventures! I can't even open the fridge! And I'll never get to have another water fight with you, Dad! Because these things hate... water!"

"What?!" exclaimed Isaac.

"They hate water! Quick, spray me again!"

Greg and Isaac quickly picked up the hoses and sprayed the boy with two powerful blasts of water. When they hit him, Steven's body of cats jumped down. Now angrier, the cats stretch out towards Greg and Isaac, ready to start biting them.

"Aaahahahaaahhh!" the two humans screamed, but then the cats stop just a few inches away.

Steven was about to grab onto the side of the carwash just before the cats could hurt them. "It's not enough water!" He called back to them, struggling to keep a hold on the building. He then turned his head forward to concentration on pulling himself away. But then he saw that he was right where the car entrance was. An idea popped in his head that made him gasp. "Turn on the super-wash!"

"No, I won't do it! It's too dangerous!" Greg reply.

"You've got to! I'm a monster! I'm an adorable cat monster!"

"No, you're not!" Isaac looked and saw Greg was starting to tear up. "You're my son!"

"Dad! Please! Aahhh!" Steven cried out as the cats engulf his more of his body. Now there wasn't much of his face to look at.

Isaac looked at the ball of heads meowing, and then his terrified and worried look turned to a serious and determined look. "Start the machine! I'll get him in!"

Greg stared for a moment, before taking off his headphones and spotted his own determined expression.

In the main office building, Greg flipped three switches and slammed his fist on a button.

Isaac heard the sound of an alarm, going off and got to work. With the super-wash turned on, the blonde stretched out his arms and grabbed a hold of Steven's body. They didn't like that, and starting biting at him. But Isaac wasn't having any of it. Pushing through the pain, he used his strength to pick up the hulking mass of cat heads.

He walked into the carwash, and went through the flaps things that were the first thing. He then stopped when he came to the first water machine. The machine sprayed jets of water all over Isaac and Steven. The cats meowed and hissed in pain. Isaac growled in agony, as he could feel the pressured water hitting him hard and taking off bits of his skin.

Wet and soapy from the streams of soap that was blasted at them, Isaac marched forward. He carried Steven through two waxers that reshaped his body and the cats.

Finally, they went through another machine that spray jets of water on them.

Worried for the two, Greg rushed out of the office and ran to the exit of the carwash. He picked up a hose, as steam billowed out of the opening, ready to attack any remaining cats.

The steam cleared away, and Isaac walked out. Even though he was sore from getting bitten on and the pressurized water, he still carefully carried Steven out. He then collapsed onto his knees and placed the boy on the ground.

Still teary-eyed, Greg let out a sigh of relief.

"Dad," said a tired Steven, as both his and Isaac's clothes were all ripped. Isaac's injuries began to heal, as he helped the boy sit up. "Isaac. We did it."

Isaac nodded with a relied smile. "Yeah. Thank god."

Then to their horror, one of Steven's fingers is still a cat. "Meow."

All three of them screamed in terror before Greg hoses it. Soon, it returned to a normal, human finger. Now they all panted and sighed in relief.

* * *

The next day came, and Isaac and Steven were sitting on the dock when the Gems arrived from their mission. "Steven!" Pearl exclaimed, and climbed out of the Gem Sloop and onto the dock. She went over to him and held his hand. "Okay, let me see it. W-?" While examining it, she was surprised to see there were no more cat fingers. "Y-you got them to go away?"

Steven smiled happily in response.

"It wasn't easy," Isaac said, ruffling Steven's hair with his own smile. "But we managed to make it happen."

"Thank so much for helping him, Isaac. It just goes to show, always listen to me, and never listen to Amethyst," Pearl advised.

"That's fair," said Amethyst.

"It goes to show," Garnet cuts in, " _you_ should have a little more faith in Steven." This made Pearl blush a little, which was a little cute to Isaac.

"Yeah, that would have been a total CAT-tastrophe!" joked Steven.

Pearl and Amethyst sarcastically and nervously laughed at the bad joke.

"But I'm feeling much better MEOW!"

The Gems groaned and Isaac said, "Please stop."

"Ehhh? What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"Shut up," Isaac groaned in annoyance as the Gems walked away.

"Come on, I'm FELINE fine."

"Shut up!"

"Everything's PURRRRFECT!—"

"Shut your mouth!"

"Oh, come on!—"

"Please just stop!"

"I'm just KITTEN around!"

Finally having enough, Isaac yelled out loud to the sky. So loud that everyone in Beach City could have heard him. "STEVEN! For the love of God, SHUT THE FUC—"

And we'll cut there.

* * *

 **AN: And that ends Act One: Chapter 6. Kind of decided to separate the seasons of the show into Acts, kind of like** _ **Gears of War.**_

 **This was perhaps the most intense movement of the story so far. Isaac has never been more scared than he was for Steven getting over taken by the cat fingers. I wanted the moment to be stressful and painful on Isaac, so that he would push himself to ensure Steven's wellbeing. Going through cat biting at him, get thrown around, and being blasted with high pressure water.**

 **And then in the end, I decided to end with a funny moment that's inspired by** _ **Red vs Blue**_ **.**

 **Isaac and Pearl are finally given a cute moment with each other. I looked through the story so far and saw that there weren't any real fluff moments for the two. And so, Pearl teaching Isaac to use his powers would prove a great little scene for the two to grow close to one another.**

 **And most importantly, more information is given about Onyx. She was only with the Crystal Gems for a short amount of time before leaving the group. The question is why. And also, we're given the information that the Gem of War wasn't able to shapeshift. To some die-hard fans of the series, this is a very odd thing to see and would either confuse or (if they're butt-hurt about it) anger some.**

 **I know that it's something that all Gems do, but it all has to do with this character's back story. A backstory that I'm really looking forward to telling you all.**

 **And with that down, let's go to** _ **Bubble Buddies.**_


	7. Act One: Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7: Bubble Buddies**_

It was yet another day in the not so normal town of Beach City, and Isaac was at the Big Donut getting some coffee as well as some donuts for Steven. It's been about a week since the Cat Finger incident, and there wasn't much for the Crystal Gems to do. Only so minor mission to retrieve some few items. But those weren't really hard to accomplish.

"Thanks, Sadie," Isaac said to the girl working the counter. Sadie was a short and heavyset, with curly shoulder-length blonde hair. Out of the two employees working at the shop, Sadie was the nicest and the two became friends after Steven introduced them.

Sadie smiled and placed the bag of donuts and paper cup of coffee. "No problem, Isaac," she said to him, as the young man paid for his purchases. "Where's Steven?"

"He's at the house," Isaac told her, before grabbing the coffee and bag. "Probably waiting for the next mission."

"Is that all you losers do?" the rude question was asked by the other person in the Big Donut, and Isaac's least favorite person in Beach City, Lars. A lanky and somewhat tall young man who wore tunnels in his stretched earlobes, and curly, orange-brown hair is styled into a sort of mohawk. His attitude around Steven and Isaac left much to be desired.

When Isaac met the two, Sadie was happy to see another person like Steven. Lars on the other hand was bitter and annoyed.

"Up you're, Lars," Isaac retorted, turning his head to him, as the Big Donut employee was restocking some other ice cream called Lion Lickers. Compared to Cookie Cats, they weren't even close to them. "At least I'm doing something with my life. Have a good day, Sadie."

"Seeya, Isaac." Sadie waved goodbye as the son of Onyx exited the Big Donut. One hand carrying the cup of coffee, and the other having the bag of donut.

As he started walking on the beach to go to Steven's house, Isaac took a sip of his coffee. But then a loud, monstrous roar echoed in the air. Not only that, but the ground started to rumble. Isaac wasn't able to steady himself, and it caused him to slip his hot coffee onto his shirt.

Isaac silently screamed, trying to hold back his voice from hollering out in pain. "…Son…of a…bitch," he squealed in a soft, high pitch.

This was the third tremor today, and the third time he was hurt because of them! The first was in the morning, and it caused him to roll off the couch and hit the floor face first. The second was in the shower, and he tumbled and nearly killed himself when he fell out of the tub.

Isaac groaned from the burning wet sensation on his shirt and just continued to walk onwards. However, a few seconds later as he walked around the cliff, the blonde teenager stopped when he saw something odd.

Steven was a few meters in front of him, attempting to ride his bike across the beach. Pushing hard against the pedals as they were almost stuck into the sand. That itself is strange, but then Steven parked his bike and looked at something.

Isaac followed his line of sight, and was a little surprised to see Steven was looking at a young Indian-American girl with dark brown skin and waist-length dark brown puffy hair, a prominent nose, and thick eyebrows. She wore a pair of magenta glasses with rose-colored lenses. Her clothes consisted of a white and mint green dress, and peach colored boots.

All she was doing was sitting on the ground while reading a book. Steven then rode his bike closer to the girl, before stopping and parked it. Isaac raised an eyebrow and whispered to himself, "What in the world are you doing?"

Steven got off the bike and had his back turned to the girl, looking at his bike. "Some smooth ride..." He turned his head to look over his shoulder at the girl. She isn't paying attention, and instead continued reading. "Five speeds," He looked at her again, and then back to the bike. "Hand brakes," looked back at the girl, then the bike. "Electric blue finish with a tiger bell!"

Isaac couldn't believe what he was seeing. Steven Universe was trying to impress this girl! He looked at the girl and saw her just staring at the book and flipped the page of her book. Still ignoring Steven. _'Wonder if he realizes she's not interested.'_

"I bet there are a lot of kids who'd love to ride this bi—" Steven was trying to get on his when he saw Isaac standing a few feet away, which startled him. "Wooah!" He and his bike fell over on his side.

This got the attention of the girl, and she rapidly turned her head at the boy. She then watched Isaac walk over to him.

As he approached him, Isaac sighed and reached out a hand to Steven. "Come on, lover-boy," he said.

Steven glanced between him, his bike, himself, and finally the girl. More embarrassed than he's ever felt, the boy pushed away Isaac's hand, got up from under his bike, threw his helmet away, and ran away. "Wahhh!"

Isaac and the girl could only watch him run. Isaac then sighed, a little irked.

* * *

After carrying the bike and helmet with him up the stairs, Isaac threw them onto the patio of the beach house, before attempting to open the door. However, it wouldn't open because Steven was leading against it. "Steven, open the door," he said.

But Steven shook his head. Then the window next to it was slid open by Garnet.

Climbing in through the window, Isaac saw that the Gems were all at the window. Likely watched the train wreck of Steven trying to be cool for the girl. Isaac looked at the boy, who then tried to act casual. "Whaddup?"

"Who were you talking to," asked Pearl.

Steven tried to act confused. "Huh?"

"That girl," said Garnet.

"Your age. Indian. Puffy dark hair, and wore glasses," Isaac said with a sly smirk and his arms crossed.

The young boy started to blush. "She's just a girl I know, except she doesn't know me," He said, trying to play it off. However, realizing they weren't buying it, he dropped the act. "We never talked."

Amethyst gasped out loud and ran up to him. "You like her!" She exclaimed in glee, while smushing his face.

"Uhh... I like everyone..." Steven told her, pushing Amethyst's arms aside.

"True." Isaac deadpanned before smiling at the Steven. "But face the facts, Steven. You don't just like this girl. You've a _crush_ on her!" Now Steven was really blushing.

"No, I don't!" Steven said quickly.

"Oh yeah, you definitely do."

Pearl gasped. "Let's set up a play-date! I'll write up an invitation and work out a schedule. Ohh! We'll have to find out her favorite kind of tea..."

"What?! No way!" Isaac quickly told her. "Besides, Steven doesn't even know who she is! Nor does she know him, at all."

"Isaac's right. Just talk to her," Garnet told the young boy.

"Okay. But you guys can't watch this time!" Steven pointed at them. "It'll mess up my funky flow."

"Right…" Isaac nodded slowly and sarcastically, while Pearl and Amethyst looked at Steven in confusion. "And since when have you ever had this…'funky flow?'" Garnet lightly smashed him over the head.

"We won't watch." She said to Steven, adjusting her visor.

"Alright!" Steven then ran to the fridge. Opening the freezer, he reached in and took out a glowing bracelet.

"What's that," asked Amethyst.

"Nothing!" Steven exclaimed, opening the door and running outside. After running down to the beach, he stopped for a moment.

The girl was still there.

Steven took in a deep breath, puffing out his chest a little to look more confident, and started marching over to her. As he walked to the girl, Steven started to reset how he'll begin his conversation with her. "Hi! My name is Steven. Hi, my name is Ste-ven. Hi my name is..." He stopped when another monstrous roar was heard by both him and the girl. "Stevan? Oh-whoah!"

The earth started shaking more violently than before. However, Steven heard the sound of rocks breaking and looked up at its direction. A part of the temple above the girl and it began to fall right towards her.

Steven gasped. She was going to die if it lands on her. He quickly ran over. "Hi, my name is Steven!" Steven yelled before jumping on top of the girl to protect her. However, his gem started to glow, and not even realizing it, summoned a large, pink, transparent bubble that form around the two.

The rubble collided with the bubble, but it didn't pop. Like a shield, the bubble protected the kids and shattered the rubble.

"Whoa! How did I do that," Steven asked, looking up at the bubble shield. He then turned to the girl, who was gaping up at him in surprise. "Hi, my name is Steven!"

The girl adjusted her glasses. "Connie," she introduced herself. Steven got off her and helped Connie to her feet. She then looked around at the bubble. "What happened?"

"I'm magic, well... half magic," Steven explained, scratching his head, "on my mom's side."

Connie looked at him with wide eyes. "You did this?"

He shrugged. "Apparently. I'm a member of the Crystal Gems, we fight monsters and protect humanity and stuff."

"Oh! That's kinda like my dad. He's a cop. Well... more like a private security guard."

Steven and Connie just stood there, looking at each other with saying a word for a moment.

"So... how long does it usually last?"

"Oh! Right." Steven placed his hands on the bubble and started making grunting sounds. Trying to make the bubble shield go away. However, when it wasn't popping, he stopped trying.

"What's wrong," asked Connie, who was surprising staying calm.

"It uh... doesn't seem to wanna go away," Steven nervously told her.

Connie looked down. "Oh."

Knowing that he got her in this situation, Steven was determined to get her out. But if he was going to do that, he was going to have to get help from the Crystal Gems. So, he turned and started to try and push the bubble. Surprising, he was able to get the thing to roll and move. "So... I don't see you around that often," he said, wanting to continue talking to Connie.

Connie started pushing to, and the two kids started working together to move the bubble, walking it at a steady pace. "My dad works for a bunch of different beaches, so we're never in the same place long."

"I go on adventures with the Gems sometimes. They usually say it's too dangerous for me though," *pushes bubble, they move forward slightly and he falls over*

"Do you always go in a bubble?"

"No, this is new. I don't know what this is. But it's okay! The Gems will know what to do."

Steven and Connie had reached the house. Now all they had to do was get up the hill. The two try to roll the bubble up the steep hill, but it was too steep. They weren't even able to go up at least a foot up the hill.

"Awww what? Hey guys! Garnet! Help!" Steven called to the house, hoping that someone would hear him.

"I don't think they can hear you," Connie commented.

But, after she said that, the door opened, and Isaac walked out of the house with a new shirt on. He was the only one in the house. After his gemstone started glowing, the Gems figured a monster was the source of the earthquakes, and so they went off to look for it. After closing the door, the young man looked around the beach.

"Isaac!" Steven called to him.

Isaac heard him and turned his head towards him. First, he saw the giant pink bubble and was confused. But then he saw the familiar curly hair and red shirt, he was sure that it was Steven, along with the girl from before, inside the bubble. "Oh geez," he groaned before walking down the stairs. He then jogged downhill to reach the bubble. "Steven, what did you do?"

"I don't know," Steven said, a little embarrassed. "I just made this, and it now wouldn't go away."

Isaac leaned closer to the ball and squinted at it. He then hits it lightly with his finger. "You made this?"

"Uh, hi." Connie said, getting Isaac's attention. "Are you Steven's brother."

"Wait, what?" Isaac looked almost shocked at the question. Is that what people saw them as?

"This is my friend, Isaac Infinite," Steven told her with an oblivious smile. "He's magic, like me. And he's so awesome and strong."

"Oh!" She turned to Isaac with a smile. "I'm Connie. I'd shake your hand, but…you know," Connie trailed off and her smile dropped, wordlessly stating the obvious.

"Yeeeeaaah." Isaac nodded. "Hang on, I've got an idea," he said before summoning his katana.

"Is there a monster nearby," asked Steven, while Connie was amazed by the teenager's ability.

"Possibly. The Gems left to go find it after the glowing started." Isaac raised the katana high up and swung it down to chop the bubble. However, it didn't pop bubble. The sword didn't even leave a scratch on it. It just bounced off the pink surface. Isaac looked from the weapon to the strange barrier. "Hmmm."

He then started trying to stab into the bubble, but once again, it did nothing. "How long would Steven's friends come back," Connie asked anxiously, not only because of Isaac was stabbing a dangerous weapon at her and Steven's direction, but also because it wasn't actually freeing them.

"Who, the Gems? They'll possibly be gone all day," Isaac replied before having his sword disappear. "We're just going to have to figure this out on our own."

"Can't we just wait here until they come out?"

"No, no, no, it's okay!" Steven was quick to reassure her. "I've got other friends that can help."

* * *

"BWAHAHAH!" Lars laughed out loud. Turned out that Sadie and Lars were the first people that Steven had Isaac push them to. Isaac was starting to wonder if the boy even had anyone else to talk to, other than him of course. But while Lars was laughing at Steven and Connie's expense, Sadie was actually trying to help. As Isaac attempted to cut the bubble, she used a hammer. "Way to go, Steven! Is this your magic love bubble or something? Did you make it because you're in _looove_? Lars mocked the choppy kid, while pressing his face against the bubble.

"That's Lars," Steven told Connie. "We're basically BFFs."

"I thought Isaac was your BFF," Connie said.

"He's my secondary BFF."

Isaac grunted with each impact of the sword. "Geez, Steven. You're too kind," he said sarcastically. He stopped to glare at Lars. "And quit making weird faces!" True enough, Lars was making kissy faces while pressing his face against the bubble. Then things turned creepy as he started licking the surface of the bubble.

Sadie started having enough of her co-worker and yelled at him. "Lars, quit being a jerk and help!"

"What? I'm helping Steven on his date," Lars said with a smirk.

"You're _embarrassing_ him!"

The two of them began arguing with each other as Isaac, Steven, and Connie. "He and Sadie run the Big Donut," the young boy said to the young girl.

"Do... they get along," asked Connie.

"Not at all," Isaac simply replied.

Steven simply watched the arguing going on. "They're crazy about each other."

"I refuse to believe that."

"I'm gonna go try something else!" Sadie exclaimed, having been fed up with Lars. She dashed into the store.

"Steven said something about his mom beginning," Connie said. "Can't she help us with this?"

Isaac scratched the back of his head and looked away. "Well, that's just the thing," he said, before pushing Lars to the ground with one hand, as the teenager was making kissy noises again. "In order for us to live, both our moms had to give up their physical forms to bring us into the world. So, I guess you can say that it was death from childbirth."

Connie looked sad. "So, you two never got to even see your moms?"

"Actually, there's a painting of my mom hanging up in my house," Steven said. "What about you, Isaac?"

Isaac looked away again and crossed his arms. "I've…"

"AHHH!" Sadie came running out of the Big Donut with a stool, before Isaac could finish. She charged at the bubble and hits it with the chair. However, instead of the bubble, the blonde just ended up breaking the stool.

At this point, the situation was looking hopeless. Steven nervously chuckled for a moment, before saying, "I have a better idea."

* * *

"Whoa, a trawler! And a little skip-jack!" Connie exclaimed joyfully at some of the many boats she pointed out. The two kids in the bubble and Isaac were now at the Beach City Pier. Isaac was stepping onto a boat that had a harpoon gun.

"You know a lot about boats," Steven commented.

"That's what happens when you hang out at the beach and don't swim and don't have friends," Connie said. That got them an awkward pause. "Y-you look at boats..."

"As much as I like seeing you two talking together," Isaac said, getting their attention as he loaded the harpoon. Jamming the spear into the barrel of the cannon. "I just like to say that you better move out of the way, and that this is a very bad idea."

"It's okay, Isaac," Steven said, as the two immediately move to the sides of the bubble. Out of the way of where the spear will hit the bubble. "Oh, hey Onion! Stay back!"

Isaac looked to his right and nearly yelled and was startled. Standing next to him on the skip-jack was a fair-skinned boy with a small tuft of blond hair and a chubby face. Wearing a white sweater, a deep periwinkle shirt tied around his neck, and pale red footie pants. Isaac guessed that the reason that he was named Onion was because of his oddly shaped head that looked like an onion.

Onion stared at Isaac for a long moment, and the blonde stared back feeling uncomfortable. Feeling that there was something about the kid that wasn't right. But all Onion did was eat popcorn before giving Isaac a thumbs up.

Isaac looked away and shook his head to clear it. He grabbed the handles of the gun, took aim at the center of the bubble in between the two kids, and fired.

However, the harpoon deflected off the bubble and hit right into the hull of another boat. Isaac quickly hopped off the skip-jack and ran over to the bubble, as Onion gave him another thumbs up. Isaac reached the two kids and watched as the boat sank beneath the surface.

"The trawler," Connie moaned in depression.

"Time to go." Isaac started pushing the bubble back and down the dock.

* * *

"'Funland'?" Connie and Isaac asked as the human and two hybrids rolled the bubble through the entrance of Beach City's very own amusement park. From what Isaac could see, it featured everything that you would see in any amusement park. From roller coasters, an arcade, a midway, a teacup ride, a ferris wheel, a carousel, and even bumper cars.

Yeah! Tons of horrible accidents happen here everyday!" Steven said with a smile. "There's gotta be something to break this bubble."

"Steven, I don't know about this," Isaac said in an uneased tone.

"Don't worry! We just gotta find the right ride." The three stopped for a moment and looked around for any ride that could help them. But while Connie and Isaac were looking from something safe, Steven immediately went for the first thing that he spotted. "Yeah, the kiddie coaster!" The ride that he was talking about was called the Appalachian, which was possibly named after that the major mountain chain lining the East Coast, where Beach City is located.

They pushed the bubble up the ramp to get onto the ride, as the coaster cars sped past them on the tracks.

"Alright, we just roll down this ramp as the carts are coming at us, and the crash will break us free!" Steven explained the plan.

"What happens _after_ the bubble pops," asked Connie.

"We'll be free!"

A very awkward pause was caused by the response, until Isaac voiced his opinion. "That is the worst plan ever. Of all time."

But then before they could do anything else, the city was hit with another earthquake. Mixed with the same roar from all the other times. The entire amusement park shook, and caused Isaac to fall on his back after losing his balance.

"Whaaa- This will work!" Before Isaac could even stop him, Steven pushed the bubble onto the tracks of the roller coaster. Once on the tracks, him and Connie were sent rolling down the ride. The roller coaster came right at them and hits the bubble. But they weren't freed. All it did was having them rolling along the tracks as the cars pushed it.

Luckily the operator caught on quickly and pulled the lever for the emergency brakes.

Isaac could only sit on his butt and watch as the cars were brought to a sudden halt, causing the bubble to fly off the tracks. His face then had a look of horror as Steven and Connie were sent flying over Funland before landing straight into the ocean. "STEVEN! CONNIE!"

* * *

Steven and Connie could only sit in the tight space and watch as they sink to the bottom of the ocean. However, their journey down wasn't a long one, and in about ten seconds they hit the ocean floor.

It knocked off Connie's glasses, so when she stood up with Steven under her legs, she wasn't able to see anything clearly. "Where are we?" She looked around and getting off of Steven.

Steven picked up her glasses and handed them to her. "The bottom of the ocean," he answered. Connie let out a horrified gasp. "It's okay!"

"How is it okay?! Are we even _close_ to the shore?"

"Yeah, sure!" But that was a lie. The reality was that Steven had no idea where they were or if they were near to the shore. All he could do is keep Connie from panicking any further.

"Let's start rolling," Connie said, putting back on her glasses. The two kids got to their feet and started rolling the bubble forward. Not know if they were going the right way. The environment around them was really a sight to behold, but neither of them were interested in it.

"It's a good thing this bubble is air tight, otherwise we'd be drowning right now," Steven joked and laughed nervously in a poor attempt to lighten their dyer situation. Connie especially wasn't very amused. In fact, at this point, she was downright terrified that they would never get out. "Don't worry Connie, I have an idea that will definitely work, when we get back—"

He was interrupted when a large shadow appeared above them. They looked up, and while Steven was amazed, Connie was scared.

The creature was a giant worm-like monster that was relatively long and the width of its body was nearly equal throughout its entire length with its head enlarged into a spherical shape, where a circular mouth was located at the end. The body was colored light brown with scattered spots in different hues of purple and blue across it. Finally, its entire body was covered in a thick, shiny translucent light blue coating.

"A huge worm!" Steven gasped, while Connie was covering her eyes in fear. "It's okay, look."

The large monster turned its head so that it could face some red glowing seaweed. Showing that it had five tentacles near the mouth, and the mouth was circular with multiple rows of white teeth present, each tooth in a circular arrangement in each row. There was also a red gem located in its mouth that gave off a red glow that passed through the skin and coating, creating the illusion of eyes on the head.

"It only wants to eat that bright stuff," said Steven, with Connie starting to calm down a little. " _See_? Not scary at all."

However, after consuming the seaweed the worm monster lets out an ear piercing, shrieking roar. And then suddenly dived head first into the seafloor, creating a hole and started to burrow itself deep underground. Causing several cracks in the ground, but one of them turned into a crevice that started to go towards Steven and Connie.

Steven and Connie started to panic, until the crevice reached them and opened up directly under them. Their bubble fell into the opening, sinking deeper into the ocean.

They stopped when they hit the bottom of the crevice. Steven groaned and opened his eyes while rubbing his head in pain. That's when he saw that his foot was on Connie's face. Oh, sorry! Are you alright," Steven asked after taking his foot away. He was about to help her stand up, but Connie stood up on her own. Remaining silent and not saying a word to the boy whose fault it was that she's trapped. "It's not so bad, uhhh." That was until he saw the top of the crevice. "It-it's okay, I uh..."

"IT'S _NOT_ OKAY!" Connie snapped at Steven after finally having enough, startling the boy and having him look at her in shock. "You keep saying that, but _YOU_ don't know what you're doing! Now we're going to suffocate or starve at the bottom of the ocean and only my parents will notice because no one else cares about me!"

"Huh?" Steven even more surprised as Connie started to tear up.

"I'm gonna disappear without ever making a single friend." And with that, Connie finally gave into her sadness and other negative emotions as tears fell from her eyes. Covering her eyes, Connie sat down and started to sob.

But then, Steven offered her a glowing bracelet that illuminated the bottom of the crevice. This caused Connie to stop crying and look up. "We can be friends," Steven insisted, smiling apologetically as Connie looked at him with a surprised, teary look. "I saw you at the Boardwalk Parade last year. You dropped your bracelet. I picked it up, but then I couldn't find you. I saved it in the freezer, so it would last longer, in case I saw you again."

"Oh! You were the kid on the car wash float." Connie rubbed her eyes dry and chuckled. "You had soap bubbles in your hair."

Steven started blushing as he laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "I was supposed to be a scrub brush. I'm sorry Connie," he said. He then gently grabbed her left arm, making the young girl blush as he put the bracelet on her. "If I had returned your bracelet back then, you wouldn't be stuck in this bubble with me now."

Still blushing, Connie said to him, "No, it's okay. I'm having fun."

The two kids just sat together, smile. But then, the bubble suddenly burst. Quickly losing air, Steven grabbed her by the hand and led Connie to the surface.

* * *

Back on the beach, Isaac was standing on Funland's pier. Looking all over for the bubble. The sun had already gone down, and there was still no sign of the kids. "Oh man, the Gems are gonna have my head," he said to himself.

But then he heard two pair of voices gasping for air after breaking the water surface.

"Steven! Connie!" Isaac called out to them as the duo coughed and took in deep breaths of air. "You guys okay?" However, his attention was brought to his gemstone that started to glow.

And just when Steven and Connie thought that it was finally over, the Worm Monster emerged from the ocean near them. It then attacked the kids, causing a large wave that swept them up and threw them onto the beach.

Isaac looked back at the water and saw the monster coming right for them. "Get out of there!" He yelled at them before summoning his sword and jumping off of the pier to attack.

However, the monster changed directions and came right for him. Isaac saw it coming, and dodged out of the way before it could bite him.

"Isaac! It eats shiny things," Steven shouted to the teenager. "It wants your gem!"

Isaac looked at his gemstone, but quickly turned back to the monster when it shot its head at him again bit and kill him. He quickly rolled away and faced the pier. That's when an idea popped into his head.

With the Worm Monster getting ready to attack again, Isaac made a mad dash for under the pier and it followed. Setting his plan into motion while running and yelling frantically for his life, Isaac zigzagged around the pillars of the pier. The monster pursued after him unaware that it was getting itself wrapped up and entangled. After running around enough, Isaac quickly jumped over the body and back-rolled on landing.

The monster was now completely immobilized and was now struggling to break free.

Isaac then went to the rocks that were next to the pier and climbed up them. After getting onto the pier, he ran towards the head of the monster that was sticking out from under the structure.

He leaped off the pier and fell towards the top of the head, angling the blade of his katana down.

Upon stabbing deep into its skull, the monster was destroyed with the usual loud _poomfp_ and a large cloud of smoke.

"Steven!" The Gems came rushing towards them. Steven and Connie ran towards the cloud as it cleared away. Isaac on one knee with the tip of the sword stabbed into the ground, and the monster's gemstone clenched in his left hand.

Isaac huffed with satisfaction and stood up. "Isaac, what's going on?! What did you do?!" Pearl exclaimed accusingly.

"That was incredible!" Connie exclaimed with a big grin and stars in her eyes.

Isaac smiled at her while tossing the gemstone in his hands. "Believe me," he said before bubbling it and sending it off, "hang with Steven, and you'll see something truly amazing." That last part was to get the boy a helping hand.

"Y-Yeah," Steven said with a grin.

Amethyst couldn't help but butt in and grabbed Steven's shoulders from behind. "So, are you going to introduce us," she asked with a teasing voice, making Steven blush.

Then Pearl intentionally made things worse for the boy by saying to Connie, "Steven was so excited to meet you. Right Steven?" All Steven could do was nod his head and laugh nervously.

"Hey!" Garnet then came to save the boy. She grabbed both Pearl and Amethyst and picked them up. "Don't mess with his funky flow." The tall Gem then turned and walked off with them.

"Funky... flow," Connie asked Steven with a puzzled expression.

"You're on your own, bubby." Isaac ruffled the boy's head and walked off. Leaving Steven to only reply to Connie with a really nervous laugh and a groan.

* * *

 **AN: And here's Act One: Chapter 7.**

 **The last few chapters of this story have actually been ready for me to post. I was planning to write one chapter for each chapter I did for one of the other stories I had and then do two more for when it was time to update "Gem of War," then update them all at once. So, with that being said, it'll be a while before I release the next chapter.**

 **With that being said, after I finish the "Serious Steven" chapter, I've been thinking of skipping all the way to the "So Many Birthdays" episode and getting that out of the way, so that I could be on time for when I post Onyx's profile on DeviantArt. The reason for releasing it on that date will be explained in "So Many Birthdays.**

 _ **IMPORTANT!**_

 **I also wanted to ask all you readers something VERY important. A question that change a lot about the story.**

 _ **Do you want you to know Onyx's full backstory?**_

 **The story of Onyx has been something I've been very passionate about and for the longest time, I've been set on letting the story play and for Isaac to find out the truth about her. However, with Diamond Days coming up soon, and the fact that we all know that Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond, I figured it would be easier to just have a whole chapter telling Onyx's full story.**

 **It's not being to be a massive chapter. It'll more or less be summarized, and it'll be as if it's being narrated, not going into a lot of detail. But I promise it will tell you everything about Onyx**

 **I guess it could be like how in** _ **God of War 4**_ **, we all know who Kratos really is and we're just waiting for him to tell his son the truth.**

 **If you all want to know Onyx's full story and not have to wait for a long time, then know that it'll come right after "So Many Birthdays." Because at the end of the chapter, Pearl and Garnet will finally tell Amethyst the truth about the Gem of War.**

 **Don't worry, the truth about Pink Diamond isn't going to be told to her or Garnet. However, for the backstory chapter, it'll feature Rose's secret in all its glory and much more.**

 **I'll have a Poll up so that you all can vote, and if you're not a user, please tell me in the Reviews. For me, I'm putting Yes, but I'm also willing to wait and slowly reveal things about her.**

 **So please tell me, do you want Onyx's complete backstory, or do you want to wait? Please vote!**

 **Alright, on to the next chapter…**


	8. Act One: Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8: Serious Mission**_

"Get ready Steven," Garnet said to Steven with a smile. "This is gonna be intense."

"I'm ready!" Steven exclaimed with excitement. After a long week of constant missions that were mostly to find monsters and capturing them, Isaac suggested that the Crystal Gems have a day off. So, they all decided to go to Funland for a good time.

After riding some of the other rides, the five were now ready to get onto the parks most popular ride: The Teacups. Which was a ride with a teacup theme and operates like normal teacup rides. The only difference was that this ride spins the cups in the air.

Once inside their teacups, the amusement ride lifted up into the air, and the starting spinning the cups around. Isaac laughed with joy as he rode with Amethyst and Pearl. This was really the first time in a long while that he's ever done something this fun. Amethyst was asleep. However, Isaac stopped laughing and looked at Pearl in confusion. She was smiling while holding a tea pot. "I misunderstood the point of this ride, didn't I," Pearl asked after seeing the confusion on Isaac's face.

"Very much," he said with a smile.

Garnet and Steven were riding in the cup next to them. "This is fun, Steven," said Garnet with one of her rare smiles.

However, Steven wasn't enjoying his time at all. The movement of the Teacups caused him to become nauseated. "I think I need to get off this ride now," he said as he felt like he was going to throw up. He quickly stepped out of his seat and jumped off the ride.

"Steven, no!"

Mr. Smiley, the owner of the amusement park laughed as he operated the ride. But then he was knocked to the ground when Steven landed on him. Worse was that it caused him to pull back and ultimately break the lever to the ride. And causing the ride to come to a complete stop, and for all of the cups to fly off the ride. The suddenness of it all didn't give Isaac enough time to react. So, when their cup crashed into the roof of a stand, he was thrown out of the cup.

Hitting the ground and blacking out.

 _ **Two Weeks Later**_

"Are you absolutely sure that you can handle this, Isaac," Pearl asked the young man as the team of heroes traveled through the Warp Pad.

"I'm good, Pearl," Isaac said in an attempt to reassure her. The Funland incident not only got Steven a lifetime band from all the rides by Mr. Smile personally, but it left some people hurt. Nothing too bad, but Isaac was the worse.

The landing not only knocked him out, but the impact broke his left arm in several places. The Gem though that his healing would fix it, but they were proven wrong. Turn out it was only flesh wounds that would be healed instantly. Bones and vital organs were going to take an extended amount of time to heal. So as of now, Isaac's arm was placed in an arm cast.

"Pay attention you two, this is going to be your first serious mission," Garnet said to both Isaac and Steven. While Isaac looked more serious, Steven was excitedly upside down. "You _need_ to be ready."

"Yes! I'm ready, I'm _so_ ready!" Steven exclaimed excitedly.

"Let's rock 'n roll." Isaac replied with a smirk.

"Steven, come on, you're gonna make yourself sick," Pearl said and turned the young boy upright. This, however, got herself hit in the eye by Steven's ukulele, which for reason Isaac couldn't understand why he brought it. Pearl scoffed and pushed it away. "Why did you bring that?"

"I don't know! I was excited, and i-it's mine, and I like it!" Steven said anxiously with his arms raised. This caused the ukulele to float upwards. "Huh?" He took notice of it.

However, before it could go far, Isaac grabbed it. "You don't even need this thing Steven," he said, handing the ukulele back to the boy. "And like Garnet said, be serious with this mission." Isaac continued even after they had finally warped to their destination. "Who know where we're going to…end…up?"

Isaac was amazed to see that they were in place that was surrounded by wild strawberries that grew to extremely large scales.

"Whoa! This is so cool!" Steven exclaimed, and ran off the warp pal. He ran several yards away from the Crystal Gems, before tripping over something and falling flat on his face. Steven groaned in pain, before picking himself back up. Now covered in strawberry juice from the fruits he'd just smashed.

"Steven!" Pearl yelled, as she and the other ran over to check on him. "Are you—"

"I-I'm fine! I'm good, I'm just... gooey." Steven reassured them, looking at his right hand and spreading his fingers, seeing the juices on them. He licked his arm, liking the taste. However, he looked up and saw a bunch of butterflies swarming up to him. Suddenly they clung to his face and attacked him. "Aah! They're in my eyes!"

The Gems and Isaac watched as Steven started running around, frantically yelling. Then he tripped again and fell onto the grass.

Garnet came over and squatted down close to him. She then softly swatted the butterflies away from Steven. "They're just butterflies, Steven."

Steven got up and tried to play it off by laughing. "Well, they looked a lot bigger when they were on my eyeballs."

"Can't argue with that," Isaac said, before walking off to see what else there was here. Picking one of the strawberries and taking a bite out of it. While it was delicious, he highly doubted that the mission had to do with the fruits.

Amethyst laughed and commented. "Steven, you're a riot!"

Pearl then turned to Garnet. "I'm suddenly having second thoughts about bringing Steven on this mission..." She worriedly said, until Garnet stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Shh... Just look at him," said Garnet, looking at the boy as Steven struck a pose.

Pearl looked down for a moment, before she whispered, "Then what about, Isaac? Not only is he still wearing that cast, but you remember how he reacted to the Diamond symbol on the Sea Spire. Who knows how he'll react to…"

"Hey guys!" The Gems attention was directed to where Isaac's voice came from. He was standing on a ridge several yards from them and looking over his shoulder at the magical ladies and Steven. "You got to check this out!"

"Looks like we'll find out," Garnet grimaced before walking to where Isaac was.

Once they reach him, they looked at what he wanted to show them with wide-eyed amazement. Beyond the ridge the strawberry field would stretch on for many, many miles. With thick brushes of leaves and the mentioned fruit. However, the thing that really caught Isaac's eyes was that there were almost hundreds of melee weapons scattered all over the field, with some standing as their blades were stabbed into the ground. These weapons would mostly be swords and even some axes and shields. There were also many floating land masses that hovered over the ground.

While it was a beautiful sight to behold, there was just some about those standing swords that caused some strange feelings in Isaac's chest. And his gemstone started to glow.

Like those swords weren't weapons anymore, but tombstones.

"Unbelievable, this was once a Gem battlefield, now it's wild strawberries as far as the eye can see!" Pearl happily exclaimed as she did a little twirl. But as she toon out her comrade, Amethyst looked towards Isaac and was instantly alerted by what she saw. "Oh, that's what I love about the Earth!"

"Uh, Pearl." Amethyst tugged on Pearl's skirt.

"What is it, Amethyst," Pearl said in annoyance. However, she too was shocked by what she saw about Isaac.

Without him even realizing and his glaze continuing to be fixated on the field, Isaac had tears streaming out of his eyes and down his cheeks.

"Isaac?"

That snapped the blonde teenager out of it and he looked at the other. That's when he realized that he was crying, and his gem was glowing. Isaac quickly rubbed his eyes dry it caused the stone to stop glowing. "Sorry," he said, more confused about his body's action. The Gems and Steven looked at Isaac with worried expressions. This wasn't exactly like how he saw the symbol in the Lunar Sea Spire, but it was similar. Pearl walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Isaac nodded. "I'm fine. Really."

Pearl, however, wasn't convinced, and looked to Garnet. The tall Gem had her usual neutral expression and simply said, "Let's go recover the gemstone."

"Where is it," Isaac asked.

"Follow me." Garnet then started walking away, leading the group.

After a few seconds, they reached their destination. A large pyramid that was floating upside down, and looked to be extremely old. Garnet then summoned a much smaller pyramid that floated between her hands. Turning so that the point-side was facing a square hole, she then pushed it towards the hole.

The pyramid fit into the hole perfectly. Causing a doorway into the pyramid to appear.

"Cool." Isaac nodded, as he and the Crystal Gems entered into the temple.

"Woah!" Steven yelled upon seeing the inside. They were currently inside of a large room with the ceiling and walls having been carved to show images of what looked to be murals. There was even a large image of two people fighting in a battle. "Steven's the best!"

Isaac looked at him in confusion as to why he did that. But then he understood when the temple echoed back.

"Why thank you, temple," said Steven with a pose. Isaac smirked and ruffled his hair as he walked in.

"You're a doof." Amethyst commented as she and the others walked as w.

Isaac looked all over the walls of the temple, until his attention was caught, and he stopped. It was another mural, but this wasn't like the others. It showed a woman standing with many sharp shapes behind her and her right hand over her chest. Her hair framed her face, with a spiky ponytail on the back of her head.

"Hey, what's this thing," asked Steven. Isaac looked over his shoulder and saw the boy looking at a small floating upside-down pyramid over a pedestal in the middle of the temple. "It's like a cool floaty triangle thing."

"It's called a pyramid and you probably shouldn't touch it," Isaac told the boy and went back to look at the Gem mural. There was something about this one that seem very familiar.

But Steven did tough it and the pyramid tipped over. Now it was pointing up-right. This cause the temple to react by shake and rumble violently. The Gems and Isaac rushed over to Steven. "Steven! What have we told you about touching magical things?" Pearl yelled over the loud rumbling.

"Definitely... always... never do it!" Steven said.

"And what did you do!?" Isaac shouted. Then they all suddenly became weightiness and floated upwards. The feeling they were upside-down began to set in. They were all then pulled up and straight into a hole in the roof of the chamber. Down a narrow round corridor.

When they reached the bottom, the Gems all landed gracefully with different poses. However, Isaac and Steven didn't. The boy landed on his stomach, and the blonde on his back.

"Ow!" Isaac groaned with his eyes shut in pain. He then slowly opened them, and gasped when he saw the hole they came down in beginning covered up. He quickly sat up, placing a hand on his arm-cast. That's when torches started to light up all around them, lighting the entire chamber. The Crystal Gems looked around and saw that there were multiple doorways all around the room.

"Looks like we're gonna have to split up," Amethyst said.

"Right," said Pearl, before gently pulling Steven close to her. "Steven and I will stay right here where it seems to be safe, while you guys go and solve the mystery of this place."

"I'm still the one with the broken arm." Isaac pointed out, raising his broken arm.

However, Steven didn't want to stay and pulled himself away. "Wait, I want to help solve the mystery!"

"Yeah, c'mon Steven, let's solve the mystery," Amethyst said, before picking the boy up and holding him over her head.

"Yeah, mystery solvers!"

Amethyst started walking towards one of the doorways, but Pearl acted before she could. The slim Gem quickly grabbed Steven and took him away. "No, no no-no-no. You two are a disaster waiting to happen," she said, holding Steven at her side and patting him on the head.

Garnet then ordered, "Steven goes with me. Isaac will go with you, Pearl."

While Pearl was a little surprised by this, Isaac didn't mind, and Steven was happy. "Really? Awesome!"

"But remember, this is a serious," she told him to keep the naïve boy on track.

"Understood. Serious Steven!" Steven whatever he was doing when he realized he was still being held by Pearl. "Pearl, can you put me down?"

"Wha-? Oh, yes, of course," Pearl said and set him down on his feet gently.

"I need to be standing or else it doesn't work. Serious Steven: Activate!" Steven exclaimed as if he was some kind of robot. Outstretching his arms and walked towards one of the doorways with Garnet following beside him.

"What was that supposed to do," Isaac asked with a raised eyebrow.

"But this could be the teacups all over again," Pearl told the boy, rubbing her arm with uncertainty.

"I'm not ending up with another broken arm, buddy!"

"Hey, I've put that behind me!" Steven told the two, before he and Garnet walked down the corridor.

Amethyst turned and walked towards one of the corridors. "I'm going alone," she said nonchalantly while entering.

Isaac turned to Pearl and shrugged. "I'm guessing we should get going too," he said. Pearl nodded and the two started towards a random one of the triangular-shaped corridors. There was nothing really special about it as they saw. When Isaac and Pearl reached the exit, they were now in a wide room with a low ceiling.

Then, the two were both startled by the sound of the door shutting behind them.

"That's not good," Isaac said. Pearl then looked back at the room. On the floor, random panels began to light up, before extending and rising upwards, becoming pedestals with symbols and abstract figures craved into the sides. Isaac and Pearl watched as the pedestals stopped rising. Each pedestal had a small hole open on its top. Rising out of the holes was a key, confusing the two Crystal Gems. Every one of the keys floated above their pedestals before the holes closed. Then a new noise brought Isaac and Pearl to look at the other side of the room. On the exit door, a key hole appeared.

"Are we supposed to figure out which key unlocks it," Pearl asked with a hand on her chin. A sharp sound from up above made them flinch. Isaac and Pearl slowly and anxiously raised their heads up. The ceiling had deployed spikes all along its surface. All pointed-sharp and aimed right at the ground.

Then the ceiling started to lower.

Isaac and Pearl's eyes widened to their limit and began to panic. "What do we do!?" Pearl shouted.

"We've got to find that key!" Isaac exclaimed. He and Pearl dashed forward, and both went for different pedestals. Isaac grabbed the first key he could get to and ran for the door, as the ceiling slowly closed in. He put it into the keyhole, but couldn't turn it. Isaac dropped the key and ran to grab another, while Pearl tried her key.

This continued as the ceiling was now dangerously low. When Isaac tried again for the fifth time, the spikes were almost close to touching his shoulders and he had to set his head in between the spikes.

He turned the key and it clicked loudly. The ceiling stopped, and Isaac panted before looking up at the ceiling. It started to retract and raise back up. Pearl noticed this too, and quickly ran over to Isaac. "We should go," he said anxiously.

"Good idea." The two waited before the exit opened by two sliding doors. Seeing their way out, they ran through and exited the death room, stopping once they got through and started panting in exhaustion and relief. "That was too close."

"I'll say," Isaac panted. "Whatever we're here for, it better be worth it." He looked up and saw the next room was a long, narrow, and triangular one. With multiple, randomly placed holes all along the two walls that shined beams of lights down at the floor at diagonal angles. Kind of remaining Isaac of _Raiders of the Lost Ark._ And on the other side was the open exit. The entrance they came through closed.

"Try and avoid the lights," Pearl said, before walking forward. She stopped just in front of some of the first light beams and scanned them. Taking in all the angels that the lights were in and where there were spaces and gaps to get through.

But while she was analyzing the beams, Isaac looked to the right wall and that there was a way for him to get through. None of the beams touched the walls, but some were coming out of holes that were low. Also, the beams that were close to the wall weren't nearly there to be touching it, leaving just a narrow, but very accessible and passable as long as he clawed on his good hand and knees.

"Alright, I've got a way," he said, turning his taco bag so that it was on his chest and then held it close and securely to himself. Isaac over to the corner and got on his right hand and knees. Carefully and steadily, he began moving forward, pressing his right side against the wall.

Grunting as he moved. It was hard to move without both hands. However, he stopped when something caught his attention. It was Pearl. She was moving between the lights by elegantly dancing her way through. Isaac just watched as she made it to the other side, landing on her toes gently.

Isaac was amazed, but shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had to the other side too. So, he continued on. Pearl stood in front of the open exit with her hands on her hip, watching and waiting for Isaac. When he was able to get through, the blonde sighed in relief and stood up. "Show off," he groaned at her. Pearl just smirked smugly.

They then walked into the next. However, upon entering, they looked at the room with wide, shocked eyes. This room had a long, narrow bridge over a large pit of spikes a few feet deep. Across the narrow bridge there were swinging blades, shooting darts, and falling spikes that punch and shook the structure.

Pearl and Isaac looked surprised and frightened at the traps. "Oh dear," said the blonde, shaking his head slowly.

 _ **A Few Moments Later**_

The exit door opened, allowing Pearl and Isaac walked out of the room with surprisingly pleased looks. "That wasn't actually that bad," Pearl chipped.

"Yeah, I was expecting more…of a…challenge." Isaac's words came to a halt as his and the slender Gem's eyes widened. They had just entered a chamber that looked suspiciously like the one that they fell into before going through the trap rooms. Isaac looked up at the ceiling. To his shock and horror, the very same hole that they fell down through was there with them.

"Is that…?" Pearl was looking up at the hole too, and just like her comrade, was shocked and started to feel frightened as at thought enter her mind.

"We're back where we started," Isaac said, the very thing that she was afraid of. He turned his head towards her and both pairs of green and blue eyes meet. "We went in circles!"

"What?!" Startled by the sound of Amethyst's voice, Isaac and Pearl turned their heads and saw her standing a few feet away after exiting from one of the doorways. "No! There has to be a way out!" Amethyst quickly started to panic and dashed off into another doorway.

But as she disappeared back into the temple, another door opened, and stepping out of it was Steven and Garnet. The tall leader looked the same as she always had, but Steven's shirt had a slight burn and there was a small spot on his head that was also lightly singed. Also, Isaac noted that the boy was looking a little pail and ready to throw up.

"We're back where we started," said Garnet.

"Garnet, there you are!" Pearl ran over to Garnet and the kid, trying and finally out to start panicking. "The doors and rooms here make no sense, they all bring you here!"

"Yeah, we kind of already figured that out," Isaac commented.

A door opened, and Amethyst came running out of it. Seeing that she was still in the temple, she grabbed her head and groaned in frustration. "Get me out of here!" the purple Gem yelled and runs into another door.

"There are sixteen doors, and we entered from the northeast and went through three consecutive rooms in a straight line..." Pearl explanation was interrupted when Amethyst returned with a bear trap biting down on her head. She struggled, but forcefully removed it, before running back to the same door. "But arrived back here out the southern-most door, which could only mean... well, I don't know what it means! I—" In also comical fashion, Amethyst returned by slides back into the room, frozen in a block of ice. "This is a death trap!" The pressure and stress had finally got to the slim Gem and Pearl started to freak out completely. She summoned her spear, ran over to the box of ice and started hitting it. Trying to break Amethyst free.

"What do we do, Garnet," Isaac exclaimed, also starting to panic.

"We go back in. Again, and again, and again, and again," Garnet told him. But with each 'again', Steven nausea and anxiety built up more and more. So much so, that he wasn't able to take it anymore.

"I CAN'T!" Steven suddenly yelled, getting surprised looks from Pearl and Isaac. The former stopped trying to get Amethyst free.

She looked at the boy with concern. "Steven."

"It's okay," said Garnet, trying to reassure the boy.

"No, no it's not, you were all right about me. I wanted to do this so bad, but now I feel like I'm gonna throw up. This is just like the teacups!" Steven exclaimed.

"Oh Steven, I-I didn't really mean that," Pearl said.

"Yeah, kid. I mean, you didn't know…" Isaac also tried to apologize, but was interrupted by Steven.

"Wait! Ah! Wait you guys, what if this is just like the teacups? That's why we're getting so lost. That's why I'm feeling so sick. All the rooms are spinning us around, so we end up here!"

Isaac looked at the boy with wide eyes. Could that really be it? They were all coming here because of the rooms turning?

Garnet, on the other hand, decided that actions spoke louder than words. She turned and walked over to the center of the room with all eyes on her. Crouching low to the floor, she summoned one of her gauntlets and started punching the floor. Creating cracks as the floor start break.

Garnet brought her fist back and punched the floor one last time, breaking through the center of the room, breaking the floor. It all crumble, and the Crystal Gems all fell through. Luckily, Isaac landed on his back on top of a floating, upside down pyramid that was moving in circles. Garnet landed on a pyramid, before grabbing Steven's falling body. Pearl landed on her own, and so did Amethyst, which broke her ice prison and she was freed.

As he Gem glowed, Isaac sat up and looked around in awe. There were multiple other floating pyramids that were all orbiting around a central floating obelisk. It was a large, upright rectangular prism with pyramids floating off of both ends. Much like a stele, the top pyramid appears to have a face on each triangular side, with three of the faces appearing to be frowning while the fourth one seemed to be smiling. The bottom pyramid was divided into two pieces and had a triangular pattern on it. The obelisk's body had an abstract pattern on it that resembled a humanoid, and the hands were designed to look like they are holding a gemstone that is embedded in the chest of the Obelisk.

"This is unbelievable!" Pearl said in amazement, projecting a hologram of rooms through her gem. "This Gem-powered mechanism! It's manipulating the rooms above. Every room we entered spun us until we came back to the central chamber! It's just like the teacups ride at Funland!"

"Steven already figured that out!" Garnet yelled to her.

Pearl blushed in embarrassment. "Oh..." The hologram of a teacup showed her head inflating and popping out of the sprout of it. She quickly placed her hand on her Gem in an attempt to hide the hologram.

Isaac looked at the obelisk that controlled everything. As he was passing one side of it, he noticed that one of the gemstones that the hands were holding was not only protruding outwards but was also shining.

"The gem!" he gasped. With him being the closest to it, Isaac placed his feet on the pyramid and jumped to it. However, instead of on the side where the gem was, he ended on landing and hanging onto right side. He could get a grip on the edge with his left arm cast, and nearly slipped.

Steven saw this and knew that Isaac was going to need help. "Garnet, I need to get off the ride now," he told her with a determined look.

Garnet nodded to him with a small smile. With her gauntlet, she grabbed him and prepared to throw the boy. "Serious Steven, GO!" The tall Gem threw the boy at the obelisk.

As Isaac carefully moved himself to the get the gem, Steven beat him to it and landed on the front side of the obelisk. Nearly slipping off before grabbing onto the edge. The boy then grabbed the gemstone, placed his feet on the surface of the obelisk, and started to pull. Struggled all he wanted, he wasn't getting it out.

However, he stopped and both he and Isaac looked up at the head of the obelisk to see that it had turned its head.

The gemstone lighted up, giving off a yellow light. It then ejected itself out of the body. Steven nearly would have fallen to the floor, if Isaac haven't caught him by grabbing the boy's arm.

All the pyramids in the room came to a sudden stop. Confusing the Gems who were still on them. Then the gem Steven was holding in his hand started to glow again. Brighter than before. One by one, the pyramids started to glow yellow too. Then they all started to dissolve and break down. The energy of the temple beginning to absorb back into the gemstone.

"That's not good," said Isaac. Before they could react, the gem glowed a bright, white light that shined and blinded everyone.

* * *

Outside, the temple glowed the same white color, before going off in an explode. Creating a massive crater and sending rubble across the area. At first, it seemed like none of our heroes survived the explosion. But after a few seconds, Pearl popped her out of the bushes. "Isaac? Steven?!" She called out, looking around frantically. Behind her, Garnet emerged when she sat. "Where are there?"

"Ahh, they're over here!" Amethyst called them over. Isaac was covered in strawberry juice while holding Steven in his arms. The young boy still holding gem.

Steven opened his closed eyes and looked up at the Gem. He sighed in relief. "The Gem..."

Isaac immediately bubbled the Gem and sent it away. "Alright, big guy, time to get up." He groaned as he pushed Steven away and to the side of him.

Pearl immediately made her way over to the two and sighed in relief. "Ah, I'd say you two handled that adventure very well," she commented.

"Yeah, nice job, 'Serious Steven' and Isaac," Amethyst said. Isaac grunted as he stood up, and then helped up Steven.

Garnet then came over with Steven's ukulele. "I prefer regular Steven," she said, handing over the instrument to the boy.

Steven happily took it. "Hey, my ukulele!" Isaac went over to a nearby stone piece from the now destroyed temple and sat down, watching the boy with a smile, as Steven tuned ukulele and then started to sing and play. "Oh... that's the end of another day. It was mighty serious, I'd have to say. The Crystal Gems looked really cool when they made the temple exploo—"

Isaac relaxing moment, watching Steven sing, was instantly ruined when the butterflies that attack Steven swarmed the blonde, even getting in his eyes. "Aah! This actually hurts a lot!" Isaac screamed, startling the others, before running around frantically.

Unbeknownst to him was that the stone he was sitting on was a chunk of rubble from the temple. On its surface was the head of the mural that Isaac was looking at before falling into the trap room.

This was the mural of his mother.

* * *

 **AN: And that's Act One: Chapter 8**

 **Decided to give Isaac a broken arm to give him a bit of a challenge and to show that not all injuries are going to heal as fast as all other injuries. There are limits.**

 **Plus, Isaac and Pearl would have another moment with each other. Not really a fluff moment, but it does give them time together.**

 **When I asked if you all wanted to know the history of Onyx, you all immediately asked. The story of the Gem of War will be told. However, I saw that some of you wanted to wait and see the story play out. Your voices have been heard, so, I have a solution that'll make everyone happy!**

" _ **The Reason: a Gem of War Story"**_

 **Plot:**

 _ **Before Isaac Infinite came to Beach City, there was Onyx. Stories of this Gem's heroic and daring actions made her a legend, one some consider even bigger than Rose Quartz. But, how? In this short story, follow how this warrior would rise to glory, experienced betrayal, learned the truth, and found hope again. With the blood in her cut, Onyx would become known as the Gem of War.**_

 **That's right! Another story! It's only going to have one chapter, and just like I said in the last chapter, it wouldn't go too much into detail and will instead narrate her story. So is so that for those of who don't want to know her backstory right now don't have to. You can just ignore "The Reason" and continue on with the story. Giving all of you an opinion.**

 **I'm so happy to be seeing more Steven Universe. Now of course, new developments in the series might counteract some of the evens in "The Reason," but I'm flexible.**

 **"The Reason** **"** **will be posted next week. What will change, and what will stay the same?**

 **After some thinking, I've decided to go back to update "Become ONE" and then work a lot on "Heroes of Tomorrow."**


	9. Act One: Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9: Giant Woman**_

After the events that took place in the Pyramid Temple, Isaac and Steven were able to go on many more adventures with the Crystal Gems. Most weren't as serious as that one mission. But there were some events that stood out.

For example, when one mission was messed up by Amethyst, Steven learned that she was actually sneaking out to fight in some underground tournament. All to blow off steam and just to let loose and be as wild as she could be. Steven wanted in and became her partner. Isaac got wind of it, but Amethyst and the boy made him promise to keep quiet about it. It didn't last, as Pearl and Garnet got him to spill the beans and they tried to stop them. In the end, they all came to a better understanding of each other.

The second was when Steven got a pet lion. Seriously. Isaac was even surprised. During a mission to the Sahara, Steven and Isaac found a pink lion that turned out to not only be somewhat calm and just acted like a giant house cat, it also magical. Luckily it was able to help Steven save the day when a gemstone caused some major havoc.

The third was after a mission to take out a monster failed, and it ended up creating drill like monsters that got away, Steven decided to take the Gems to the arcade. While Isaac was happy to spend time away from fighting monsters, the girls weren't adapting as well. Garnet was the worst. She was literally addicted to a game that she was didn't stop playing, even when the drill monsters returned.

That's when both human-Gems found out that she also had three eyes. We knew?

And so, that brings us to today. On the beach in front of the Temple, Amethyst and Pearl were playing a game of checkers on the beach. Steven was perched on a lifeguard chair with a bucket of water balloons. Isaac was nearby, building an impressive sandcastle, while also watching the game.

Amethyst concentrated on her next move. She then saw an opening and put her piece forward. "Ha, take that!"

Pearl pretended to be surprised and impressed. "Wow, Amethyst, I'm impressed," she said mockingly, before getting pelted by a water balloon.

Isaac chuckled a little. "Play nice, Pearl," he joked with her. Getting a blush and a glare from her.

"Now it's your move, Pearl," Steven said, holding up another balloon to hit Amethyst with. He's already hit her multiple times, which she actually enjoyed.

"Steven, are the water balloons really necessary," Pearl asked.

"Yeah, this way the moves really matter."

"But it's checkers. _Every_ single move counts."

Amethyst twirled a strand of her wet hair around her finger with a laid-back expression. "It sounds like _someone's_ being a sore loser," she bragged.

Pearl got steamed, but tried holding in her anger. She looked down at the checkers broad and grinned. " _I'm_ not a sore loser…" She grabbed one of her pieces and defeated Amethyst in one move. Capturing all of the purple Gem's pieces. "…because I just won the game," she proclaimed with a smug look.

"Then you're a sore winner," Isaac said off screen, making her blush in embarrassment and glare at him, again.

"Whaaa—?!" Amethyst looked down and realized that she'll get pelted with the water balloons. So, she happily held out her arms and made herself a target. "Here it comes!" Steven pelts her with all water balloons, getting Amethyst to laugh. The small Gem then fell over and lay down on her back. "Aaah, feels good to lose," she said with satisfaction.

Pearl stood up and cleared her throat. "Ahem, I certainly hope that's not the attitude you have during battle," she said with a look of disapproval.

Amethyst groaned and sat up. "Ugh, you're no fun anymore," she said and motioned with her hands. "This is why we never form Opal."

That got Isaac's attention. What was she even talking about? And who, or what was Opal? However, he was now concerned about Pearl and Amethyst getting into yet another fight. Pearl bent a little forward, moving head closer to Amethyst's face. "We don't form Opal because you're _difficult_ and a _mess_ ," she told her, but with each word emphasized was followed by Pearl pointing her figure into Amethyst's chest.

Provoked, Amethyst moved head closer to Pearl's face, and their faces touched. They glared angrily at each other and looked ready to fight. "We don't form Opal because you're an uptight _bitch_ and—"

Isaac quickly ran over and got in between. "Break it up, you two! Break it up!" He commanded, pushing the arguing Gems apart. This wasn't the first time that they've fought, but he's never seen them this angry at one another

Steven jumped down, but not to help stop the fight. He was interested with something else, and had an excited face. "What is Opal," he asked. Even Isaac was also curious and looked at the two Gems.

"Oh, it's the two of us, mashed together," Amethyst said simply and clasped her hands together.

Pearl scoffed. "Is water just hydrogen and oxygen 'mashed' together?"

Amethyst and Steven look clueless. "Is it?" Isaac asked with a shrug and a raised eyebrow.

"... Analogy wasted. Look here, Steven and Isaac." Pearl kneeled down and the two boys did the same. They watched as Pearl manipulated the sand of the beach to demonstrate, making a mini form of her and Amethyst. "When we synchronize our forms, we can combine into a powerful fusion gem named Opal," she expanded as the two-sand figure danced and turned into one larger and taller form.

"Oh, like _Dragon Ball_ ," Isaac said with a smile. It was basically the same idea of when characters fuse in the show. Combining to create a more powerful being.

Now it was Pearl's turn to look confused. "What's a _Dragon Ball_?"

"Never mind."

Amethyst abruptly stomped her foot on the sand Opal. "Except I don't dance like _that_."

Pearl gave her an irked expression. "Amethyst?!"

Steven looked to Amethyst with excitement in his grinning face. "Wow, that's so cool! But tell me more about Opal!"

"Well, Steven, she's an ultra-powerful, stone cold Betty—" Amethyst gloated by pointing to herself. "That part's me. And she's like, kinda tall—" she whispered to the humans. "That part's Pearl."

Isaac raised an eyebrow at her and turned to Pearl. "Help us out here," he asked with a shrug.

Pearl sighed, sympathizing with Isaac. "What Amethyst is attempting to say is, Opal is an amalgam of our combined magical and physical attributes fused into a single entity," she explained to them.

"Wow, can you do it right now?" Steven asked the Gems with a grin. "Come on, form Opal!"

Isaac looked at Amethyst and Pearl. Amethyst looked away with a scoff, and by Pearl's response, he could tell that they weren't really liking the idea. "We only form Opal when it's absolutely necessary," she told Steven, before they heard the Warp Pad activate.

The blonde looked to the house to see the light emitting from the house. "Garnet's back!" Steven yelled before running to the house.

"Well, fun time's over," said Isaac, before he, Pearl and Amethyst followed.

The half-humans and Gems enter house, greeted with the sight of Garnet walking off the pad. "Ooh! Ooh! Did you bring me anything?" Steven approached her with excitement. Garnet pulled a rock out of nowhere and gave it to him. "Whoa, a rock! Thanks, Garnet."

Isaac ruffled his hair with a smirk. It didn't really take much to impress or please the boy. He then looked to Garnet. "So, how'd it go?"

"I have located the Geode beetles of Heaven and Earth," Garnet told them. "We should split up to retrieve them."

"Well, I'm going with _not_ Pearl," Amethyst said as for some reason Steven started biting the rock.

"Well, that's perfect because I don't want to go with grammatically incorrect people anyway," Pearl said.

"Jeez, they were really going at it," Isaac said to himself.

"Is she talking about me," asked Steven while biting his rock.

"No, buddy. And stop doing that!" Isaac grabbed the rock and threw it over his shoulder. Only to flinch when it broke one of the windows on the second floor.

"You four go together, _I_ go alone," Garnet commanded them.

This was meant with surprised looks from Pearl and Amethyst. "What? Why?"

"The Earth Beetle's at the bottom of the boiling lava lake, and only I can swim in lava," said Garnet, before putting her hands together and summoned a pair of goggles that went over her visors, with a strap that tightly around her square afro. "You'll find the Heaven Beetle at the top of the Sky Spire. It's safer."

"You mean _boring-er_ ," Amethyst said with annoyance.

"That's not even a real word," Isaac said, putting on his Taco pack for the mission.

"Wha?"

"You mean _more_ boring," Pearl corrected her with the blonde.

Amethyst smirked slightly. "So, you agree with me."

Pearl looked at Amethyst annoyed. "Ugh! Come on, you two, let's go," she said, walking to the Warp Pad. Steven and Amethyst followed after her, with Isaac coming behind.

As he walked pasted the tall Gem, Garnet stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Look after Steven, and be sure to keep the harmony," she said.

"You got it," Isaac said with a confident grin and a thumbs up. Garnet let him go, and Isaac ran over to the Warp Pad and joined the group. Pearl and Amethyst didn't want to look at one another, while Steven was oblivious to the rising tension between them. "Energize!"

They warped away.

* * *

"Oomph!" Isaac and Steven fell to the ground, with Steven once again falling once more on the older boy's stomach.

"Why…" Moaning in pain, Isaac then pushed Steven off himself. He sat up and looked at where they were. Amazed by what he saw. The Sky Spire was a free-floating structure in the air around the surrounding mountains with smaller floating rocks leading towards it. However, it was far away from where they were, and the only way to get to it was large and long staircases edged into the rock and ground of the mountains and rocks.

"Woah... is this where the Heaven Beetle lives," Steven asked, seeing the Sky Spire and standing up.

"Apparently," Pearl said. Her and Amethyst had landed just fine.

"All the way at the top," commented Amethyst.

Isaac stood up and hunched a little. "Why couldn't they have made the Warp Pad much closer?" He complained.

"So, when you fuse, do you turn into a _giant_ giant woman, or just a regular-sized giant woman?" Steven asked the two Gems.

Amethyst groaned as Isaac started walking. "That doesn't even matter," he said.

"Does one of you control the right arm and the other control the left arm?"

"Come on, Steven," Pearl told him, as she and Amethyst walked away to follow Isaac.

"Wait, these are extremely important questions," Steven exclaimed and ran to catch up.

Isaac sighed and approached the first set of steps. He liked the boy, but man could he be so annoying. "No, they're not," Isaac said back to Steven, beginning to walk up the long stairway.

Steven stopped at the base of the stairway, pretending to be tired in a lame attempt to get Pearl and Amethyst to fuse. "Phew, there sure are a lot of stairs, how about you form Opal and give me a piggy back ride?"

"No!" Pearl and Amethyst stopped a few steps up and delivered their response swiftly.

Steven then followed after them and managed to catch up. However, he wasn't done with asking questions about fusion. "What about if you eat a hotdog? Whose stomach does it go into? Or do you share the same stomach?" Steven laughed. "That would be gross."

"Hilarious," Isaac said sarcastically. Suddenly there was rustling in a bush in front of them on the path. This caused them to with alarmed expressions. Pearl and Amethyst summoned their weapons to fight whatever it was. However, Isaac quickly got in front of them and showed that his gemstone wasn't glowing.

Seeing that it wasn't dangerous, they stood down. And just in time, as a goat jumped out of the bushes eating a thicket. It didn't even seem bothered by their presence or the fact that they had weapons.

But Steven gasped. "Look out! It's a magical goat guardian! Quick, you have to form Opal! It's the only way to defeat it!" He then pretended to cower down on the ground with his hands on his head. "Hurry before it kills us all!" He peeked up at them, only to them looking deadpanned at him.

"You're an idiot," Isaac said, hitting Steven in the head.

As Steven rubbed his aching head, Pearl walked up to goat. "Ugh, Steven, we only fuse for deadly situations, does this look like a deadly situation?" She explained, gesturing with her hand at goat. The animal looked at her and bit her hand. "Ow! Hey, bad mountain goat!" The goat bleated at her.

Amethyst broke out in hysterical laughter and fell over. Isaac tried to hide his smile behind his hand, as Steven looked a bit disappointed. "Darn it. Aw, I'm never going to get to see Opal," he said.

Isaac patted him on the head. But then Steven started to sing all about only wanting to see Pearl and Amethyst becoming a giant woman. And Isaac had to admit, it wasn't bad. Compared to the other times he sang, which annoyed Isaac, he was really starting to find his singing voice.

 _All I wanna do is see you turn into a giant woman,_

 _A giant woman!_

 _All I wanna be is someone who gets to see a giant woman._

 _All I wanna do is help you turn into a giant woman,_

 _A giant woman!_

 _All I wanna be is someone who gets to see a giant woman._

 _Oh, I know it'll be great and I just can't wait to see the person you are together._

 _If you give it a chance you can do a huge dance because you are a giant woman._

 _You might even like being together and if you don't it won't be forever._

 _But if it were me, I'd really wanna be a giant woman,_

 _a giant woman!_

 _All I wanna do is see you turn into a giant woman~._

While the boy sang, Pearl and Amethyst have been doing nothing both antagonizing each other. First, Amethyst decided to scare Pearl while they were crossing a river by being a shark jumping out of the water. Isaac hopped that Pearl would've taken the mature route and let it go, but then she 'accidently' kicked some rocks into Amethyst's face as they were climbing up the side of a mountain. A fight almost broke out on a bridge, but Isaac quickly got between the two and broke it up, and then Steven came and had them all brought into a group hug. But from the way that Pearl and Amethyst looked away from each other, Isaac knew it wasn't working.

As Steven was nearing the end of his song as they neared the top of the Sky Spire. Isaac was walking beside him, as Steven was riding on the goat that came along with them for some reason. Steven called it Steven Jr. Pearl was walking in the front, and Amethyst was sent to the back. Isaac was at a limit with their fighting and decided to separate the two from each other.

The group stopped at the edge of a cliff. In front of them was a broken pass leading to the Heaven Beetle's temple. The pass was now reduced to several broken pieces of floating land connecting them.

As Isaac stared out at the sight, Steven was thrown off the Steven Jr., before the goat started jumped across the floating pieces. Reaching the temple and bleating at the Crystal Gems.

"Wait up Steven Jr.!" Steven exclaimed to the goat, and tried to jump. Only to be stopped by Isaac pulling him back.

"Oh no, you don't!" Isaac pulled him away from the edge before letting him go. "You can't make those jumps."

"Oh, you should fuse into Opal, and then lay across the rocks like a bridge!" Steven told the Gems.

Amethyst looked away, and Pearl stated, "We don't need Opal to get across."

"Can you do it anyway?" Steven begged. He then got dropped to his knees and put his hands together. "Pleeease? It would be easier, wouldn't it?"

"No, but I've got another idea." Isaac took off his Taco pack and started digging around in it. They Gems and Steven looked at him with curiosity, as he pulled out the rope and grappling hook. Putting his backpack back on, the son of Onyx threw the hook at one of the floating islands. When it caught on the edge, Isaac used his super strength to pull the land mass over to them. However, it wasn't easy, and it felt like whatever force was keeping it in place was pulling it back against him.

Back Isaac managed to pull the island close to the cliff and hold it in place. "Hurry, get on!" He ushered the others, feeling his feet digging into the ground as he tried planting him firmly.

The Gems and Steven quickly hopped on, before Isaac did as well. No long being pulled away from its original spot, the island moved back with the team on board.

"Brilliant!" Pearl exclaimed with a grin.

"Eh, I try," Isaac said modestly with a shrug. He then threw the grappling hook to another island close to them, and repeated the process. This time, both masses were pulled together.

Amethyst was starting to get bored. "This is taking forever!" She groaned over dramatically with her body bent back. They all stepped onto the next island.

Isaac panted a slightly while collecting the grappling hook and rope. "You got a better plan, Amethyst, I'd love to hear it," he said, getting ready to throw the line to the next island.

"Okay." Amethyst then suddenly picked Isaac up with her surprising strength, making him drop the grappling hook. As he was beginning to yell in protest and to put him down, Steven stared with anticipation and Pearl was freaking out throws.

The purple Gem then threw him towards the next floating platform.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Isaac screamed as he was thrown through the air, before landing on his stomach on the small island. Amethyst then jumped on board, looking proud of herself.

"Oh wow, Amethyst, that was a really good idea," Steven praised the purple Gem, while Pearl reacted worriedly.

"Hah, I know, I'm full of 'em," Amethyst bragged.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" Isaac yelled angrily at her, managing to make his frightened hands let go of the floating earth.

"Eh, you'll be fine," Amethyst said dismissively and shrugged. She then grinned mischievously. "Watch." She then picked him up again.

"Don't you dare!"

"Go long!" Amethyst threw him towards another platform.

Only to overshoot it, making Isaac fly over it. Isaac screamed in terror as his momentum slowed and he started to fall. Pearl, Steven, and Amethyst gasped. However, as he fell, Isaac saw that he was getting closer to another platform and saw the plant roots growing out from under it. Reaching out to it, Isaac managed to grab one of the lowest roots that were located at the bottom. Saving himself from death. Pearl, Steven, and Amethyst saw this and were relieved to see their friend was able to save himself.

Pearl panted a little with a hand on her chest, but then she looked at Amethyst and became furious. "DAMN IT, AMETHYST!" The pale Gem yelled at her, cursing for the first time Isaac's know her. "What is wrong with you!?"

"Hey, what are you getting pissy at me for?!" Amethyst yelled back at her, trying to avert blame on herself, even though feeling a _little_ guilty. "I was just trying to help, okay?!"

"You could've killed him!"

"OH, FOR GOD'S SAKE, JUST HELP ME UP! I can't hold on for much longer!" Isaac shouted at them, sounding more angry than scared. Then a loud snap came from the root. He looked up at it, seeing it starting to slowly break away from the land mass. Now he was really scared.

Pearl and Amethyst gasped, before looking at each other. Without thinking, they spurred into action.

Isaac watched with horror as the root continued to pull away, before it finally snapped away.

He screamed as he started falling again, only to be saved by Pearl, who quickly jumped after him with Amethyst's whip wrapped around her. She grabbed the blonde, so Amethyst yanked hard on her wipe. Pulling them back up onto the platform that she and Steven were now on.

After they landed Pearl and Isaac look at one another, before quickly letting go and stood up. "Thanks," Isaac said to them, as Pearl unwrapped the whip from her. He then glared at Amethyst. "And you're dead."

Amethyst chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that," she said, looking away.

"That was so great how you worked together," said Steven praised Pearl and Amethyst "Why don't you do that all the time?"

They both glanced at each other for a moment, before stubbornly looking away.

* * *

They didn't use Amethyst's plan anymore. They continued on with Isaac's methods, reaching the Sky Spire quicker with the help of everyone pulling the ropes.

After getting off the last landmass, the group continued the mission. Now at the base of the Spire, they saw that all they had to do was go up yet another long stairway. A spiral light-gray hallway with orange half oval roof tiles traveling around the structure. Isaac and Steven groaned, with both their legs sore from walking and trekking miles of uneven terrain, and the blonde's arm sore from pulling. Why did there have to be stairs?

Even so, they moved on. Marching up the stairs with determination to complete the quest.

Within a few minutes, they reached the top. Isaac was the first to exit out of a dome structure at the top. He looked around to see a shallow pool of water with a single stone pathway that stretch in front of him to the middle of the pool. Looking at where the path led, Isaac was surprised to see a tiny modern house in the middle of the pool. Standing next to it was Steven Jr.

Isaac was about to walk to it when Pearl and Steven came up behind him. Pearl was fine, but Steven was panting and looked like he could get out any minute. "I can't feel my legs anymore," he groaned. But when he looked up and saw the house, he sprung back to his usual self. "Hey, look at that!" He pointed to the house ran over to it. "It's a tiny temple!"

Shaking his head with a smirk, Isaac walked over to join him with Pearl. "It's just where Garnet said it would be," Pearl said. "The Heaven Beetle should be inside." Amethyst was the last to arrive, and was looking most indifferent. Just leaning against the dome structure.

Steven peers inside small temple and laughed. "Check it out, it's even got a little beetle bedroom, and little beetle bongos, and a little beetle baby book."

Wait, what? Isaac got down on his hands and knees and looked through another window. Surprisingly enough, Steven wasn't seeing things! There was a bedroom with everything the boy said. "Holy crap, there's a little beetle PlayStation!" he said with wide eyes.

Pearl gently moved Steven away from the window, he was at, and peered inside too. Examining the inside with Isaac. "But where's the beetle? It's supposed to be here, the heaven beetle wouldn't leave, would it?" Pearl asked worriedly to no one in particular, as she started to panic. "Oh, it could be anywhere!"

Amethyst chuckled. "Maybe you should freak out some more, that's really gonna help us find it," she said sarcastically.

That angered Pearl, and she walked up to her. "I can't believe your attitude, Amethyst. And now you're just slouching over here doing nothing," she berated her.

"Hey, it's not my fault the beetle isn't there. Why do you have to make things worse by being a bitch and squawking at me?!"

Steven ran over to top them. "Oh Jesus!" Isaac groaned and stood up to help. But then stopped when he saw his gemstone started to glow. His eyes widened with anxiousness. "Oh no…"

There was then a shrieking sound. Like a bird of some kind. Steven Jr. began bleating in a panic, as Pearl retorted, "I don't squawk!"

"Guys," Isaac said, looking around anxious summoning his sword.

"Yeah, you're squawking at me and commenting on my posture!" Amethyst shouted, as Steven tried to push them away from each other.

"Guys!"

"THIS is squawking! SQUAWK, SQUAWK!" Pearl yelled at Amethyst.

"GUY!" Isaac finally had enough and yelled at them, getting the three's attention. Just then something crashed out of the small lake behind him. Isaac whipped around and his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. The thing was a giant bird creature with large, broad wings, thin, stick-like legs, and a comparatively small tail. It had brown feathers covering almost all of the body with purple plumage on its chest and belly. The beak was jagged and extended to its forehead and had no eyes.

Before Isaac could do anything, the bird leaned its head down and ate Steven Jr. whole.

"Holy shit!"

Steven gasped with tears in his eyes. "My son…"

The bird flew around and came straight for Isaac. He saw it coming and quickly jumped out of the way, right before he could be swallowed up by the monster. It was moving too fast for him to attack it. Pearl summoned her spear and yelled to the blonde, "Isaac! Get out of there!" She then threw her spear at the bird…

Only for it to swallow that too.

Isaac reacted as it snapped its beak at him, making another pass. He cuts it across the break, but it didn't even cut through it. "In here, Isaac!" Isaac looked to see the Gems and Steven waving to him from inside the small dome room in the spire.

As the bird came around for another pass at him, Isaac booked it and ran for the opening. Behind him the bird was flying right for him. But he was about to make it and jumped away from the room's opening, escaping the bird's beak as it tried to fit into the room.

Isaac sat on the floor near the others, as they all stared at the monster bird's beak snapping at them and roaring. After a while, the bird got out of the entrance and started pecking at the dome. "It swallowed my spear!" Pearl exclaimed in shock.

"What do we do now?!" Isaac exclaimed after getting up. "There's no way we're going to outrun that thing!"

"Guys, this is great!" Steven said with a happy smile. Isaac looked at him as if he was crazy. "Now's the perfect time for you two to form Opal!" Isaac would have been annoyed at him and hit him in the head, but they may need the fusion. If they ran, they were going to be picked off by the bird, and they were sitting ducks in the room. If Opal really was their only way to escape, then they needed her.

As the pecking got louder, Pearl and Amethyst glanced at one another. With grimace expression, they too knew the young boy was right.

Steven and Isaac sat on the sideline to watch as Pearl and Amethyst walked to the center of the room. First, they bowed to each other, making their gems glow. Pearl started first, moving with grace and beauty. She opened one of her closed eyes to look at Amethyst.

The purple Gem's dancing was anything but graceful. Moving more sexually and vulgarly.

Pearl groaned in annoyance, but continued with the fusion dance. The two Gems moved towards each other, completely out synch and style with each other. Amethyst then grabbed Pearl's arm and pulled to down in a pose. However, it only resulted in getting hit in the face by one of Pearl's arms, while Pearl's head hit the ground.

Isaac and Steven watched as their bodies turned into bright and started to fuse with each other. Their bodies molding and becoming one being. However, not even half way through, they form became unstable, before they were forced apart.

Landing on the ground with loud thuds. Amethyst was the first to sit up and rhetorically said, "So you wanna try that again? With less hitting me in the face this time?"

"Well, it would have worked if your movements weren't so erratic and formless," Pearl shot back at her.

Amethyst got offended and marched over to Pearl. "So it's all my fault? Ho ho, you totally weren't even trying to sync with my dancing. You should know how I dance by now!" Pearl pushed Amethyst, and the two got ready to fight.

However, before they could get started throwing punches, Isaac came over and yelled loud at them. "Alright, both of you, SHUT THE HELL UP!" There was a pause as everyone looked at him in surprise. Isaac didn't care. He was done with all this. "Alright, this is bullshit! This whole fucking time we've been here, Steven's been nothing but a nuisance, but I can deal with that. But the two of you have been arguing and getting at each other's throats! Even now of all time! Look, I don't care what it takes, but the two of you have got to get your shit sorted out. Because if you don't, we're all going to DIE!"

Just then, the giant bird broke through the roof and swallowed Isaac whole. The Gems and Steven watched in horror as the bird brought its head out of the building and swallowed him whole.

"ISAAC!" Steven, Amethyst and Pearl screamed.

* * *

Inside of the bird, Isaac landed on his stomach, before the bird's moment caused him to be sent rolling into the side of stomach's wall. Crashing into a pile of animal bones. "Ow!" He yelled and looked around the stomach. The inside of the bird was littered with junk and the bones of the dead. The interior walls were encrusted with gemstones that were encased by bubbles.

Slimy from getting swallowed, he looked around, before finding Steven Jr. chewing on something while on top of a pile of junk.

Isaac sighed happily. He didn't want to see a cute animal getting killed. After a moment to question himself for thinking the goat was cute, Isaac walked over to him. "Well, at least you're alive," he said. Steven Jr. just kept chewing. However, when Isaac looked at the thing he was eating, he leaned closer to it. "Wait…"

To Isaac's surprise, it was an insect that resembled a Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle. Its femurs were light-green, and the lower half of its legs were pine-green. The body was mostly yellow, but was topped with a turquoise-colored gemstone surrounded by a white clover-shaped marking. There was also a white horn, white antlers, and light green eyes.

"The Heaven Beetle!?" Isaac exclaimed. He couldn't believe it was still alive, but he had to get it away from Steven Jr. "Let me see that." Isaac grabbed the beetle and tried to pull it away, but the goat was refusing to let it go, and started pulling back. "Hey, cut it out! Be a good goat and give me the magic bug!" He managed to get the beetle away, which caused him to fall back on his butt. Isaac sighed in relief, and looked at the beetle. As it crawled around in his hand, Isaac smiled and rubbed its back with a finger. "Well, aren't you a cute little guy."

The moment with the beetle was ruined when Steven Jr. came over and tried to get at the beetle. "Hey! No! No." Isaac pushed the goat away with one hand, while holding the beetle up and away with the other. "This isn't for eating, your stupid goat!"

Suddenly a giant arm punched into the stomach.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Isaac yelled in shock and with wide eyes as Steven Jr. bleated in fear. The hand started to feel around, making Isaac crawl away from the arm. Then another arm burst out from the stomach's floor, grabbing Steven Jr. and making the goat bleat loud. He was pulled through the floor. "What the hell is going on!?"

He was then grabbed by the first arm. "Whoa!" Isaac yelled as he was pulled into the stomach too.

Popping out to the outside, Isaac was held in close by the person that pulled him out. Along with Steven Jr. in hand, the giant figure jumped away from the bird, as its main form was getting destroyed and turned into dozens of small pieces.

The person landed on the water while holding Isaac and Steven Jr., which they put down, before grabbing someone else. Isaac opened his eyes and saw that the person they picked up was Steven, who was staring at whoever was holding him in wonder.

"Opal," he asked. Isaac looked up, and was astonished too. It really was her.

Just like Steven sank about, Opal was a giant woman that was a combination of Pearl and Amethyst. With periwinkle skin, and thick, wavy, off-white hair that extended slightly past her calves, and was tied back into a rowdy ponytail by a pale salmon band. Extending from off the sides of the ponytail were two small pigtails in the front tied by pale yellow ties and chin-length bangs, which resemble Pearl's. Opal had a lean, toned body with two pairs of slender arms, with a face that was thin and rounded, inheriting Pearl's pointed nose and Amethyst's plump lips. She also had two gemstones in the same places where the two's gemstones were. Her outfit consists of fuchsia, knee-length leggings with pale-violet cuffs rolled up, and yellow flat boots.

Opal looked up at the piece of the bird while blinking. Those pieces were floating in the air, before turning into bright light. Those pieces now turned into the smaller versions of the creature. Consisting of the head, beak, and wings.

Those creatures started attacking Opal. But the giant woman was able to avoid the attacks by back flipping away from them, as the birds stabbed into the water. She continued flipping, before leaping and sliding down the spire.

Opal then jumped across the platforms, and landed safely on the main spire. She then put Isaac and Steven down, and stepped forward.

"Stay low," she said in a low, but gentle voice. Isaac and Steven followed her command and watched as she pulled out Pearl's spear and Amethyst's whip. She crossed the weapons, and then in a flash of light, they combined and turned into an opalescent recurve bow. Pearl's weapon formed the limbs of the bow while the lash and handle of Amethyst's whip became the string and grip, respectively.

The birds were coming towards them. Hold the bow with her left hands, Opal used her right hand to grab the string with her fingers. She slowly pulled it back, causing an arrow made of energy to be summoned.

As the birds got closer, she released the bow and let the arrow fly.

When the arrow was in the middle of the flock, it exploded in a flash of bright light. The birds were all then impaled by smaller arrows that came from the one big arrow.

Isaac and Steven stared at her back with jaws dropped and stars in their eyes. Watching the birds' forms destroyed and poofed away. After they were all gone, Opal turned back to the two humans and walked over to them. She then offered one of her hands to both of them. Steven took his offered hand, and she pulled him up easily. Isaac did the same and was pulled up easily. "Uh... do you... know who I am?" Steven asked nervously. "Who…we are?"

Opal stared down at them for a moment, before chuckling and started singing. "All you wanna do, is see me turn into—"

Steven gasped. "A giant woman!"

"Yay," Isaac said in a dry tone. "Can we please go home? I've had enough for one day." The other two agreed and they started walking back to the Warp Pad.

* * *

At the beach house, Garnet had already returned. She was now drying her hair after her journey through the lava. Her attention was then caught by the Warp Pad activating.

After the light went away, Opal, Isaac and Steven appeared on it. "We're back!" the young boy exclaimed happily. Opal just stood behind them in a slight pose.

Garnet walked up to them. "The Heaven Beetle."

Opal gasped. "I don't have it," she said, having completely forgotten that's the whole reason they went on the mission in the first place. Opal's body then glowed brightly and transformed back into Amethyst and Pearl. Sending the two Gems fly to the ground away from each other.

Pearl sat up and was quick to accuse the short Gem. "Amethyst, _you_ got distracted!"

"Hey, _you_ were the one getting carried away with all those fancy backflips!" Amethyst argued back at her.

"Guys! It's okay!" Isaac yelled, getting them to look at him. Isaac reached into his breast pocket and took out the Heaven Beetle. "I've got it."

Garnet walked over to the blonde with a small plastic clear container for keeping bugs. Isaac walked over and saw the Earth Beetle was already in it, so he gently dropped the Heaven Beetle inside, landing on his feet. "Good job, Isaac," she said and bubbled the container. "I also see you helped your teammates fuse."

Amethyst and Pearl stared in surprise at each other. "And all we had to do was to have Isaac get eaten by a bird," Steven said with a joyful tone.

Isaac grumbled. "Glad to help."

"Nice work, you two will be great at fusing one day," Garnet said and walked off.

"Yeah…" Isaac nodded, before snapping his closed eyes open. "Wait, we can do that too?!"

* * *

 **AN: And that's Act One: Chapter 8 of "Gem of War." Sorry it took so long to get back to this story, but I'll be updating this and two other stories along with this one.**

 **Sorry I skipped over some of the episodes, but I just didn't really think they added anything to Isaac's or Onyx's story.**

 **And if you want to know more about Onyx and her backstory, then I recommend reading "The Reason". It's not a long read, but it'll give you enough to know who Onyx is and an idea why she never wanted for Isaac to know about her past.**

 **Spoiler, it's not a very happy tale.**

 **Thank you very much for reading. "Gem of War" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and also Review it. If you any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please in a Review or a PM me.**

 **Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.**


	10. Act One: Chapter 10

**SilverWolf1130:** Thanks, and I'm hoping to work on this story more too. I really like working on it and I'll be sure to update it as I do it alongside my other stories.

 **LoamyCoffee:** I'll say, and Opal doesn't really get a lot of screen time, but I'd say that she's one of my favorite fusions.

 **GracefulArt:** That's a go idea, and I'm excited to get to when they do fuse.

 **RedHood001:** Thank you so much for the support on the story. Yeah, I found their bickering to be annoying too. Steven Jr. is a cute character that is fun to watch. I'm working out a fusion with Steven and Isaac, but I haven't really come up with anything yet. As for Onyx and Rose, it could have happened, given that the backstory of Onyx is really broad and up for a lot of ideas and stories to fill in the blanks.

 **trickster3696:** I know, right? I didn't get into the show at first because of how annoying he was. Yes, she was betrayed by the Diamonds. What did you think about the backstory?

* * *

 _ **Chapter 10: So Many Birthdays**_

They said it wasn't needed. They said it was a waste of money. They said it was going to serve no real purpose. But they were wrong to think that about the gas mask Isaac had just bought from Amazon, especially now as they walked through the piles of random junk in Amethyst's room. About an hour ago, Pearl came running out of the temple shouting about how there was a terrible and foul smell that was reeking throughout the Temple. So, the Crystal Gems launched an investigation to find it.

And they were looking through Amethyst's room because it was where the smell was strongest.

"How can you live like this?" Pearl questioned Amethyst while pinching her nose. Isaac and Steven were walking in front of them, trying to scout out where the smell was coming from. Isaac had on the gas mask he bought with a pair of blue latex glues, while Steven had to pinch his nose shut too and used a stick to move things around.

"It was fine 'til you guys started whining," said Amethyst.

While Pearl was repulsed by the smell, Garnet wasn't bothered at all. "Whining?! The whole temple reeks!"

"I told her that this place was a bio-hazard," Isaac commented, before seeing Steven stop and point to something with his stick. Isaac looked and saw it was something small and wrapped in tin foil. Steven was gently pushed to the side as Isaac kneeled down and picked up the object with his gloves on.

"We've found it!" The young boy called back to the Gems. Isaac stood up and showed them the tin foil object.

Pearl quickly covered her whole nose with her hands. Yep, that was it. "What matter of magical alloy is _this_ ," she asked. Isaac shrugged and unwraps tin foil. The result was a small cloud of gas pluming out, making Steven and Pearl cringe at the awful smell.

The cloud hits Isaac in the face, but he was protected by the gas mask. "You see? This is why we wear these things!" He said with a muffled voice, pointing to his mask. He bought it mostly for if they were to go on a dangerous mission that had toxic fuses, but this was close to being in that situation. He then looked down at the thing causing all this trouble. It looked like a burrito, only it was gross looking. Turning a tint of green with mold, fungus, and just looking plain nasty. "Amethyst, why do you have a disgusting burrito lying around?"

Amethyst took the burrito and held it up. "Oh shit! It's the Tuna Burrito from Aqua-Mexican!" she said with a fond smile.

"That place closed like five years ago!" Steven exclaimed.

But Amethyst just took a bite from the age-old breakfast taco. Isaac and Steven flinches and squirmed in disgust, while Pearl looked at her companion in horror. With that going on, Isaac looked around, before noticing something that caught his interest. And soon his face filled wonder.

It was a painting that very much similar to the _Washington Crossing the Delaware_ painting. However, there were some key differences. It wasn't of George Washington and his troop crossing the Delaware as it was frozen over. It had the same angel and a similar size dark brown wooden boat, but in the painting were Rose Quartz, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl along with a few other humans. There were also out at sea, as indicated by Garnet punching a shark at the very back of the boat. Pearl and Amethyst were helping a human that fell into the water. Rose was standing boldly upright with an oar in her 't really looked like she was helping at all. Just trying to look heroic. Not a real confidence booster. All of them were wearing old clothing.

However, there was someone else with them, and they were the person that really caught Isaac's eyes.

It was another woman standing boldly in front of Rose, with her head turned to yell something at her. This other woman was the same height as Rose, but with a slim and toned body. She was likely another Gem, with her grey skin and jet black that was tied into a hair ponytail that was spikey and stood almost straight like, with bangs that framed the side of her head like a helmet, with two points going off to the sides, and then there was a single bang going between her eyes. Her eyes were black, but interestingly going down her right eye was a crack-like, greyish white mark that looked like a scar.

She was wearing a black, form fitting outfit with white accents and armor that made it all look like one complete outfit, instead of separate things. It had a black coattail that covers most of her calves and was white on the inside. Dark grey, elbow length gloves on her arms. The armor was an X-shaped chest armor with shoulder protectors.

However, Isaac looked to her right arm, which was stretched out, and saw she was holding a sword.

It was _his_ sword.

Isaac took off his gas mask and looked at the painting with wide eyes. Looking at it with wonder, he picked up the painting by its dull brown frame that had golden edges. Staring at the woman, he turned towards the Crystal Gems. "Guys," he said, not taking his eyes off the painting. "Is…Is this her? Is that mom?"

Pearl, Garnet, and Steven gathered around to look at the painting. Once she saw the painting of the woman with Rose, Pearl gasped with excitement. "Oh Isaac, that _is_ her. That's Onyx!" She said with joy.

Steven looked with stars in his eyes. The was with Isaac, only his eyes started to tear up. This was the first time he's ever looked at his mother. "She's beautiful," he whispered.

Garnet helped support the painting with him by grabbing one edge as he held the other. Isaac whipped his eyes when the tall Gem spoke. "She sure was," Garnet said with a smile, remembering their time together. Fond memories of the Gem of War. "She was the bravest of us all, and a good friend." She then looked at the shark she punched. "Getting that shark to pose was not fun."

"Why is everyone dressed like old timey people," Steven asked.

When Isaac put the painting in his armpit to carry it out of the temple, Pearl turned to Steven with a smile. "They _are_ old timey people," she confirmed. Isaac looked at her with wide eyes. Did he hear her, right? He glanced at Steven beside him, and the two came to a realization. If that was true, then that would mean…

"How OLD are you guys," the blonde asked the Crystal Gems in a cautious way.

" _Much_ older than any human."

That instantly got Steven excited. "Does that mean you'll live forever?!"

"No, no. We don't age, but we can still get hurt and die." Well that was morbid and killed the mood. As indicated by Steven's happy grin turning into a sad frown. Then their attention was caught by the sound of stomach noises and moans. Amethyst's skin was turning an ill green as she keeled over. Her face in pain and sickly before falling on her face. Pearl looked down at Amethyst, seeing that she got food poisoning from the burrito. Isaac pointed to the short Gem and was about to saying something about helping her, but Pearl simply said, "...but not from food poisoning."

"I just can't believe you guys are like a bazillion years old!" Steven exclaimed in amazement, while the purple Gem could only curl up her body in agony. "How do you find a cake big enough for all those candles?"

Pearl and Garnet glanced at each other. "We don't really celebrate birthdays," the brawler said.

Steven dramatically gasped heavily. "Why not?!"

She shrugged. "It's not our way."

"Well, I can't just ignore this travesty of injustice!" Steven declared with determination. "I pledge that you will have your birthdays, with all the candy, cake, and ice cream you've been denied." This caused Amethyst to vomit after she heard the food.

"Steven, I don't think that's really necessary," Isaac said, not waiting for the Gems to be forced into something that they don't want to do. "Besides, adults don't usually do birthday parties. As long as you provided the traditional breakfast in bed, you're fine."

"That wouldn't do, Isaac," the boy insisted. "We have to make up for all the lost birthdays and need to make them special."

"How?"

* * *

About a couple hours after leaving the Temple, Steven brought Isaac and the Gems out. Leading them to where he had his planned party for the girls. It honestly looked like it was put together in under an hour. There was a picnic towel with food items set up, balloons for decorations, and a large "birthday throne" where Amethyst was now sitting at, wearing a red royal cape. "And the birthday queen is, Amethyst!" Steven declared, placing the so-called part crown on the purple Gem. "I hope you like it, Dad made me this outfit and it brings me special birthday luck every year."

He then grabbed a toy microphone and started singing. Garnet and Pearl were sitting on folding chairs, while Isaac was having his own little adventure with Lion, Steven's 'pet' lion. Looking at the beast with an irk look and a party hat in his hand, while Lion sat in front of him and stared with his black eyes.

The two things that one would really notice from Lion was not only that he was huge—much bigger than any other lion on the planet—but also that he was pink. His fur was completely pink. Even his star-shaped mane and the fur at the end of his tail was a soft light pink. Other than that, he had round ears and a dark brownish-magenta heart-shaped nose.

"Come on Lion, give me a break here," Isaac asked. He then put the party hat back on Lion's head. But after that, Lion tried to take it off. Isaac sighed. One thing that Isaac's learn about the magic creature was not only was he a total mystery, but was stubborn as a mule. Baring listening to any but Steven, and even he was having a hard time getting the lion to follow his commands. "You're killing me, Smalls."

Isaac walked over to join the other Gems and sat down in his chair. Pearl leaned down and picked up a balloon with a face drawn on it. "Um, Steven? I know you put a lot of effort into...putting faces on things. But could it be that we're just a tad _mature_ for this ritual," she asked, trying to be gentle with her words.

Amethyst came over and got close to her face. The purple Gem had another birthday hat on her nose, making it look like Pearl's nose. Amethyst then leaned closer and pokes Pearl's nose and the hat. "Boop."

"GAH!" That got a rise out of Pearl. Amethyst playfully ran away and the skinny Gem, chased after her. "You will remove that this instant!"

Isaac snickered after finding that a little funny. Steven ran over to him and gave him a piñata hanging on a stick to hold, before going to Amethyst. "Wait! Here," he said, offering the purple Gem a baseball bat with a ribbon on it.

"Awww, thanks!" Amethyst took the bat from him. "I'll use it all the time!" She then got into motion to hit Pearl with it, making the skinny Gem flinch.

Isaac immediately ran over and stopped her by getting in front of Pearl. "NO! It's for the piñata," he said. Once that was settled, Isaac handed her a blind fold and held the piñata out for Amethyst to hit. "Just wear the blind and try to break it."

With the blindfold on, Amethyst started swinging.

But she was doing it wildly, missing the piñata, and hitting Isaac!

"OW!" He was hit in the left side. Even with his durable skin able to take the blow, Amethyst was strong enough to hurt him very much. "OW!" Isaac was then hit in the leg. Amethyst swung again, but Isaac was able to stop the bat. "Hey, stop it!"

"Am I—"

"OW!"

"—getting—"

"OW!"

"—close?"

Pearl and Steven could only watch as poor Isaac was hit multiple times by the rowdy girl.

"STOP!" Isaac dropped the piñata and grab the bat when she swung it, stopping it from hitting his face. "For the love of God! Just take the blindfold off!" He yelled at Amethyst, startling her. Amethyst did take it off and saw where the piñata. She then jumped and hit it as hard as she could.

Which resulted in it flying off far into the ocean.

Isaac and Steven stared at the direction it went in with wide eyes. The blonde then frowned and said, "I'm not getting that."

Amethyst threw the aside and turned to the young boy. "Ha, what next Steven?"

Steven scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well, you were supposed to get delicious candy when you broke it open."

Amethyst gasped, before looking really sad that she wasn't going to get any of that candy. "Wait, you had candy and you didn't just GIVE it to us?"

"That's the point of a piñata. You have to work for that candy," Isaac said.

"There will be more sweet treats at Pearl's party, I promise," Steven said to the purple Gem.

* * *

For Pearl's birthday party, Steven brought them to a cliff overlooking Beach City. Having a with a similar setup to Amethyst's party, Steven was now dressed in a clown costume and Pearl with the birthday outfit. As for Isaac, Steven had him dressed like a clown too. But…

Steven looked at him with a critical look. Analyzing his costume with a look of disapproval. "And you're sure there was no other costume," he asked. Isaac went to the costume shop in town to get a clown outfit, but the only one that was available for his age and up were killer clown costumes. Isaac had to pick the less violent looking one, which had a regular clown jumpsuit with a little bit of blood splattered on it, big red boots, white gloves, and the colorful wig and big red nose.

"You wanted me to dress like a clown," Isaac said, spreading out his arms. "This was the less scary costume they had!"

"I don't know, Isaac," Amethyst said while sitting with the other Gems with two party hats on. "That does look like a _brave_ look for you."

"Yeah, yeah, fuck you Amethyst," Isaac said.

"Language!" Guess who said that.

"Besides, it's funny!" Steven said, before giving his nose a squeeze. Making it honk.

After scolding the blonde man, Pearl looked at Rose's son in confusion. "How?"

Isaac and the Gems watched Steven as the young boy tried to explain why this was all funny. When he wasn't able to do so, he stopped. "Oh geez, I'm breaking character. Wait wait wait. I wrote some jokes—!" Steven took out one of his few pages that he used to write down jokes. He then found the perfect one, in his mind. "Why did Pearl throw butter out the window…?"

Amethyst turned to Pearl and looked at the slim Gem in confusion. "You did what," she asked as Lion walked away.

"...To see a butter _fly_!" Steven finished the joke.

Isaac made a small, stifled chuckle. However, Pearl didn't get the joke and was instead hurt by what Steven said. "I never did that. Steven, are you telling _lies_?"

"N-no." Steven wondered why she would ever think that he'd be lying. Didn't she know what a joke was. "A-Ah, Isaac, can you help me here?"

Isaac turned to Pearl with his arms crossed. "Pearl, a joke is something that you tell someone to make them laugh. The laugher comes from the funny punchline," he said before thinking. Okay, Pearl was someone that didn't know that a joke is, so what was a good one to tell her? It has to be something smart. "Okay, why did the picture go to jail?"

Pearl looked a little confused. "Why would a picture be put in jail?"

Isaac smiled and said, "because he was _framed_!"

There was silence, but Garnet broke it with a short chuckle. Pearl thought for a moment. But after what was about a minute, her eyes widened, and she started laughing. "I get the joke now!"

Isaac looked back at Steven and gave him a thumbs up. Steven returned the gesture and turned to Pearl. "Oh, I know! Pearl, do you like pie?"

After she laugh, Pearl gasped with a smile. "I DO like pie."

Steven ran over to the basket he brought with him. Opening the lid, he dug through it. "Well then you're in luck, I baked you a pie." Steven pulled out a pie and showed it to Pearl. He then walked over to her with it, but the face he made meant that he was up to something, as he sarcastically said, "I sure hope nothing happens to it!"

Isaac got the cue and stuck out a foot. "Oops," he said with a smile, tripping over Steven. But it didn't go as he thought it would. When the young boy fell forward, he intentionally threw the pie over his head. The goal was for it to hit Isaac in the head when it came back down.

In a split sentence, Pearl was standing and caught Steven before he hit the ground. Believing that he would've hurt himself on impact. "Woah, Steven, I've got you. Why would you do that, Isaac? He almost fell right on that—"

 _Splat!_

"Ah!" Pearl gasped when she heard the sound and looked over to see Isaac standing with Steven's plan being a success. The pie landed on Isaac's head, covering most of the upper portion of it in the icing and cream. "Isaac!" Pearl set Steven down at ran up to her blonde friend. Isaac wiped off the pie that was covering his eyes and opened them as the Gem approach. "Are you okay," she asked.

A part of Isaac wanted to be mad at Steven for his little stunt, but that was all forgotten when Pearl showed a great deal of concern for him over getting pie landed on him. He looked away with a blush upon noticing how close she was to him. "I-I'm fine."

"See, Pearl? It's funny!" Steven exclaimed with a big grin. Isaac shook his head at him. That wasn't really funny. He then noticed that Pearl wasn't with him anymore. He looked around before seeing his friend nervously hind behind Garnet. As she clung to her arm, Pearl wished something to Garnet.

Afterwards, the wise Gem turned to look at boys. "Pearl says she's all partied out and she's ready to go home," she told them.

"I'm down with that," Isaac said. He took off his wig and fake nose before turning to walk back to the house. However, he was stopped by Steven running over and grabbing his arm.

"Isaac, wait! This isn't going at all like it should," he said, taking his wig off. Causing his real hair to poof out. "We've got to pull out the ultimate birthday."

"Steven, nothing you've done as worked," Isaac said. "What could possibly make them want to continue doing these parties?"

* * *

Now it was Garnet's turn to have a birthday. After bringing the Gems to an empty lot, Steven gave the Gem the B-day outfit. But while Garnet's was ever so hard to read, Pearl and Amethyst didn't look like they were having too much fun anymore. And for what Steven brought out, even Isaac was sure that his friend was getting desperate to give the Gems a birthday. "Okay, there's no way you're not gonna _love_ this!" Steven shouted, gesturing with his hand at three small kiddie cars. The first was a convertible, the second was a Volkswagen, and the last one was an army jeep.

"Steven…what is this," Isaac asked.

"It's kazoo racers!" Steven shouted with a big grin, holding up a kazoo. "You get in a car, you play a kazoo—" He gave the kazoo a blow, before holding up 4 kazoos. "—what more could you want? Dad used to do this for me every year."

While looking anxious, Pearl leaned to Isaac and whispers, "Is this why aging makes humans _die_!?"

"Pretty much," Isaac responded. "That and people are just idiots."

Garnet walked up to Steven. "Steven, thank you for the birthday parties, but I don't think we'll need anymore," she told the young boy, making his excited face fall to a sad expression.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Our age is only an illusion," Garnet explained, and took off the crown, "and Pearl's pretty sure this ritual is more for human children."

Pearl was a little shocked that Garnet would say that, and remorsefully said to Steven, "Nothing against _children_."

"Children? Everyone gets to have birthdays, seriously, give it a try," Steven said and grabbed the red car. "You're never too old, right Isaac?"

Isaac sighed and looked at Steven with sad eyes. "Steven, I do celebrate my birthday, but I don't go out of throwing a birthday party," he said, making the boy stop and look at him with wide eyes. "Besides, I'm too big for the cars _."_

"You're not too big. Y-you just get in." Steven attempted to get into one of the small cars, wanting to show Isaac that he was wrong. But he wasn't able to get seated all the way into the car, and was sitting on the back of the chair. "And then, uh..."

The sound of a Gem shapeshifting was heard, and the Crystal Gems turned their heads towards it. Amethyst had turned into a baby, and sitting in the small war jeep. "I can fit! Which way to the baby war?" She said, having her own fun. The purple Gem then started driving around. "EAT TREAD, DIRT BAGS!"

Steven looked down at his hands. "What if birthdays _are_ just for little kids? What if even _I'm_ too old?" he asked, grabbing his head.

Isaac sighed and walked over to Steven. "Come on, don't be like that," he said, getting down on one knee and placing a hand on the depressed boy. "You're still only 8 years old. You're still young."

"I'm 13!" Steven proclaimed with an upset look.

Isaac's eyes widened in total shock. Seriously! Steven got out of the car and started walking away with his hands in his pockets. Looking down at the ground. "Steven, where're you going," Isaac asked.

"I just need to think," Steven said without turning to him. Still looking sad. "Kazoo Racers suddenly seems undignified." The Gems and Isaac stood where they were, watching him go. Amethyst stopped too, staring at the boy.

"Steven…" Isaac sighed as the sun went down over the horizon. As it as getting dark, a mist started rolling into the city.

* * *

When Steven left the four of them to think, Isaac and the Gems decided that it was best to pick up the party decorations. The human-Gem hybrid was rolling up the picnic towel, Pearl was folding the table's legs, and Amethyst was picking up the balloons. "You know, Steven was right, this _is_ fun," Pearl said, setting the table down.

"Yeah," Isaac admitted with a smile. Garnet came over with a box filled with balloons, but was still wearing the birthday outfit. He gave her a raised eyebrow. "Why are you still wearing that?"

"It makes me feel... important," the tall Gem said. The Gems then turned and walked towards the house to put the stuff away.

Isaac then heard something coming towards them. He looked up and saw the silhouette of a familiar animal coming through the fog. "Hey, Lion…" His smiled faded. As Lion got closer to them on the beach, Isaac saw that he had something in his mouth. It was a person and Lion dropped the body onto the sand. The person was a very old man with a gray beard wearing a pink shirt that said, 'Professional Beach Hunk', blue pants, and one scandal on his left foot. When Isaac looked at the shirt, wondering why an old man would wear something like it, he saw that a little bit of his belly was showing.

But it was enough for the blonde to see a familiar gemstone.

Isaac's eyes widened in horror and worry. "Oh God, STEVEN!" He yelled, getting off his knees and ran towards him. When he got to his friend, he kneeled down and gently lifted him up and looked at Steven with concern. "Steven? Steven!"

Steven looked up at him and lifted up his hand. "Isaac?"

Grabbing his hand, Isaac asked the old Steven, "Steven, what the hell happened?"

"I don't know," Steven said, sounding old and weak. Seeming to have trouble staying awake.

Isaac looked up at Lion, but the big cat stared at him. What was he supposed to do? This wasn't like anything he's ever seen before. "Look, it's going to be okay. We'll fix this," he said to comfort. That's when the Gems arrived, running towards Isaac after hearing his yell. He saw them and yelled. "Guys, HELP!"

When she saw Isaac holding Steven in his arms, Pearl gasped shock and stopped in front of them. Garnet and Amethyst kneeled down next to Isaac and Steven. "What's wrong with him," asked the worried skinny Gem.

"He's still alive," Isaac told her, looking down at Steven as the boy closed his eyes. "But I'm not sure why. He's just turned really, really, really, really old."

Hearing this, Pearl started to tear up. "Gems can't die from aging, but he's half human."

"Can't we fix him," asked Amethyst.

Isaac opened and closed his mouth, but he couldn't say anything. What could he say? He's never had to deal with this. That's when Steven opened his and struggled to speak. "My birthday suit, might help," he said. Isaac and Amethyst turned to Garnet. The wise Gem grabbed the cap and took off the birthday suit in one motion. After getting the crown on his head and wrapping the cape around his body, Isaac held the boy in his arms on the ground. Lion was lying behind him.

"Steven? Are you okay?" Isaac asked with his expression getting more worried.

"Thanks guys, but I guess this suit's all out of birthday magic," Steven said, snuggling into Isaac's arms. "We had a good run, huh?" Steven glowed light pink and aged again. His white growing longer.

Isaac looked at the boy with despair. This couldn't be happening. This had to be some sort of bad joke that Steven was doing. But it wasn't. Steven was dying in his arms and there was nothing he could do for him. In front of him and the boy, Amethyst stared at the boy with sad eyes. Pearl had tears flowing extensively out of her eyes. Garnet was breathing heavily from her mouth. The maroon Gem grabbed Amethyst and Pearl. "More birthdays! NOW," she said, pulling them away.

As Isaac tried to comfort the dying boy in his arms, Amethyst called to Steven. "Check it out, B-Day Boy," she said, turning into a small car with Garnet squeezing into her. Squeezing in to sit in her chair. "I'm a tiny car!"

"Beep beep," said Garnet.

Steven, struggling to keep his eyes open, said in a strained voice, "Kid…stuff…" His gemstone aged him again. Isaac eyes widened with his right eye had a small tear leaked out. He looked up at the girls with a pleading expression.

Garnet got out of Amethyst, and the small Gem transformed into a piñata. "Ooh, piñata time!"

Steven's gem aged him even further. "Nothing's working!" Isaac shouted at them. Hating himself for feeling so helpless to save the boy.

Amethyst transformed back into herself and ran over to grab Pearl. "Pearl! Get over here."

"I can't!" Pearl yelled.

"For STEVEN!" Amethyst picked up Pearl ran back to the dying boy and placed the slender Gem in front of Steven. She was in same clown costume that Steven wore for her birthday with a pie in her hands.

Isaac had tears flowing down his cheeks and tried to keep his sobs in his throat. He watched at Pearl, also tearing up, approached the hybrid duo and stopped before them. "Oh, look, I have what, um, what appears to be a delicious pie," she said, struggling to stay in character as she watched Steven, the child of the woman she loved, breathing deep and heavy in the arms of Isaac. Getting closer and closer to dying like a human. "I sincerely hope nothing happens to—Oh Steven!" Pearl couldn't that it anymore and bawled her eyes out. Shoving the pie in her face and sobbing into it.

Amethyst looked at her indignantly. "Are you trying to kill him _faster_?!" Pearl looked at her with miserable eyes. She started crying again and ran to Amethyst. In her sadness, she hugged Amethyst in a strangling hug. Making the purple Gem try and break free. "Peal!"

Garnet pushed them aside and walked up to Isaac and Steven. Isaac looked up with more tears flooding out. He stared at Garnet with big, begging eyes. Hoping that their wise leader would have a way to save Steven. And that seemed to be the case when she reached down and picked up the old boy.

But then Garnet started shaking him violently!

As he watched his friend getting shook like that in a critical condition, Isaac's eyes shrunk, as Amethyst and Pearl screamed at Garnet and they rushed over to her to get her to stop. Anger and rage entered into his heart. And just like in the Lunar Sea Spire, steam started to appear from his fist. This time from both fists, and even greater than before.

"STOP!"

Time seemed to slow down, and before anyone could even react or blink, Isaac punched Garnet in the face with his super strength. Breaking her visors on contact and sent her flying back. Flying over the sands of the beach and only stopped when her back hits the broken off hand of the Temple, smashing through it and falling onto the ground. Pearl and Amethyst stared in shock at Garnet with wide eyes and jaws dropped. Garnet grunted and got up, with her body aching in pain from the punch. The Gems looked at Isaac and gasped in shock, and even fear.

With steam still flowing off his arms as he placed Steven against Lion, the latter shaking in fear, Isaac whipped around and fiercely glared at the maroon Gem with hot tears streaming down his face. "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!?" Isaac shouted furiously at Garnet. Not even noticing the steam coming off his arms.

Garnet was frightened, and it was clear to see without her visor. "I thought... violence... would be the answer," she answered, trying to keep herself calm. Steven and Isaac had the powers of their own mothers inside them. That's why they were training them. But that steam coming out of Isaac's arms was a power that even Garnet was afraid of.

A power that she hoped and prayed wouldn't have been passed down to him.

"He's dying!" Isaac yelled at her. As Steven heard his mournful and furious yells, Steven opened his eyes just a little. Enough to see his friend yelling at the Gems, and the steam coming off his body. But he couldn't hear what was being said. "You're only killing him!"

Seeing his friends fighting, Steven struggled to speak and get up. "Would you guys, just please…" as he weakly spoke and got up, Steven's gemstone activated, turning him into an adult that looked to be in his late 30s. "Control yourselves?!" Isaac looked at him with wide eyes, as the steam billowing from his body stopped. He and Gems pay attention to him with wide eyes and jaws hanging. Steven saw this and immediately felt guilty for snapping at them. "Ugh, oh no." His Gem then transformed him into a teenager. "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled. But I can't stand to see you—" Steven aged back into an adult again. "—freaking out like this!"

Pearl stared at him in surprise. "Wha—?"

"Steven, you're changing!" Garnet exclaimed.

"How is this possible," Isaac asked with wide eyes.

"His age is fluctuating," Pearl stated. "I think his gemstone is reacting to his state of mind."

"Steven! Stop! Feeling! Old!" Amethyst yelled at the boy.

Steven transformed into a teen. "But I wasted your time..." As he started to become depressed, the aging boy transformed back into being an old man. "We all have such little ti-ime..."

"No, no, no! Steven none of this was a waste of time!" Isaac exclaimed in panic, trying to get the boy to stop aging. He tried to think of something that would help his friend out of his mess. That's when he thought of something. "Look, if you want… It'll be my birthday next week."

Steven quickly changed back into his adult form as he looked at Isaac with wide eyes. "Really? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't think it was important if you all knew. But then you went through all this trouble to celebrate all the Gems' birthday, I realized that it is important to you," said Isaac as he walked over to Steven and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Because that's who you are. Sweet and considerate and obnoxious!"

Steven turned back into being a teenager. "Oh my gosh, you're right," he said, before transforming back to his old self. Mostly. He still had full grown legs. "I am pretty great."

No longer able to contain themselves, Pearl and Amethyst rushed over and hugged him. "Oh Steven!" Pearl sobbed as she and Amethyst hugged him and didn't let go. Isaac sighed and fell back on the ground. Sighing in relief.

"Wait a minute!" Steven exclaimed, having Pearl and Amethyst let go of him and stared at him in confusion. "I've got to know what you what for your birthday, Isaac!" The blonde was about to answer, but then Steven interrupted him. "Don't tell me, I've got an idea on what to get you!"

Steven used his legs to run off towards the house, as the mist started to clear itself. Isaac sat up and watched as his friend ran away from him and the others. He then looked down with an expression of shame and guilt. "Garnet, I-I sorry," he said genuinely. "I just…"

A hand was placed on his shoulder, and Isaac looked up to see that it was Garnet. She stared down at him with a smile. "It's alright, Isaac. I understand that you were only worried about Steven."

"And don't worry about our present." Isaac looked and saw Pearl and Amethyst staring at him with smiles. "We've got our own little surprised."

* * *

A week has passed since the birthday incident. Today was the day of Isaac's birthday. He was going to be 19 years old as of now. The sun was out and shining down on the town of Beach City. That sunlight came through the window and shined onto Isaac's sleeping body as he slept on the couch.

Isaac felt the light shine on his eyes and groaned. He opened his and was startled so much that he quickly sat up.

Steven and the Gems were standing in front of him and said Happy Birthday. Steven held up a cake with white frosting and other colored frosting to decorate it. Pearl was holding a tray that had breakfast on it; a large stack of pancakes with syrup and bacon the side. Amethyst and with holding two presents. Finally, Garnet held the painting of Onyx and the Crystal Gems.

Staring at them for a moment in shock, Isaac laughed and thanked them for the surprise.

After having breakfast with Steven and Amethyst, as well as putting on the birthday suite, Isaac sat on the birthday throne as Pearl elegantly brought over the first present. Isaac took it and ripped off the wrappings. He was pleasantly surprised to see that it was an air mattress. Pearl said that she and the other Gems wanted for him to be more comfortable when he sleeps, so they decided to get him the mattress. Isaac looked at the box for the air mattress and smiled, thanking them for the gift.

For her gift to Isaac, Garnet hung up the painting over the kitchen, as Steven brought Isaac his present. Isaac ripped the wrapping off and was confused to see it was a box. The boy told him that it was something that Greg gave him, but he decided to add something. To make it special for Isaac.

Isaac was now more curious about what the boy got him. He opened the box and gasped. It was a black shirt with a yellow star like how Steven's shirts were. However, down the middle of the star was a white crack, splitting the star down the middle.

He took the shirt and held it up, looking at it in amazement. He looked at the crack and was immediately reminded of his mother. Turning towards the painting that was hung up, Isaac looked at his mother and saw Onyx's crack-like scar over her right eye. Steven said that he wanted Isaac to have his own star, so that he could be just like the others. He added the scar because he thought that it would be cool to have. Plus, it would be something that Isaac could wear to remember his mother.

Touched by Steven's words and gift, Isaac smiled and surprising hugged the boy. Happy to have someone like him in his life. Steven returned the hug. Garnet then interrupted the sweet moment by saying that they have a mission. Isaac and Steven nodded, and the blonde took off the birthday suit and started taking off his plaid shirt. This made Pearl look away with a blush.

Isaac then puts on his new shirt, wearing it for his mission.

The Crystal Gems stepped onto the Warp Pad, and warped to wherever they were needed.

* * *

 **AN: And there's another chapter of the first Act. I'll be skipping over the next two episodes of the show and go right to "Steven the Sword Fighter." That title will be changed to "Isaac the Sword Fighter."**

 **We finally get a look at what Onyx looks like. A warrior of beauty and strength. This was just a brief showing of her, just Rose in season one. But later we'll see more of Onyx.**

 **Nothing else really changes other that Isaac gets involved with the parties that Steven throws for the Gems and that they find Onyx's painting. And when Steven's age gets worse, Isaac is really devastated by it and could only watch as the boy dies in his arms.**

 **And then there was the scene with Isaac's powers again. A power that even frightens Garnet! What is it and why is it so scary to the Gems?**

 **Thank you very much for reading. "Gem of War" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and if you want me to keep writing this story, then please leave a REVIEW. I would really appreciate it if you do. If you any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please PM me or write it out in the review.**

 **Until next time, goodbye, farewell, and amen.**


	11. Act One: Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11: Isaac the Sword Fighter**_

It was a sunny day in the lovely town of Beach City. And no one was enjoying it more than Isaac. He would lounge outside on a beach chair or go out and swim for a bit in the water.

Nothing else exciting happened with crew other than an incident in Steven, Lars, and some of the local teenagers of Beach City. What had happened was that some moss that Rose Quartz grew and raised on the hill that was on the move, and the teenagers got trapped in it. Forcing Steven and Lars to work together to fix things. Afterward, Steven introduced Isaac to the teenagers, called the cool kids. At first, Isaac wasn't sure if he was going to like them because generally when you have a name like 'cool kids', you're not all that likable.

But he was surprised by how friendly they turned out to be. Buck Dewey was a relaxed and mysterious individual whose favorite activity is hanging out with his friends. He reminded Isaac somewhat of Garnet, with his sunglass. Sour Cream was the soft-spoken and chilled young man. A local DJ who seeks a life of music and DJing, despite his stepfather's disapproval. Kiki and Jenny Pizza were twin sister and reminded Isaac of Pearl and Amethyst with how different they were. Kiki was nice and comical with a sassy side, and Jenny was a chill, fun-loving teenager.

About two days passed by now, and it was honestly a little boring with no missions of monsters to fight. Isaac thought about hanging out with Steven but knew that the young boy was the only person that he did hang out with. He then thought about the Gems. Garnet wasn't around that often, and Amethyst would probably just want to do something dangerous.

That just left one person.

"Thank you for helping, Isaac," Pearl gratefully, while bending over to pick up one of Steven's dirty shirts. As Steven was looking for one of his rubber action figures called G.U.Y.S, Isaac decided to hang out with the slime Gem. Out of all the Gems, he's always enjoyed her company the most. Not only was she refined and intelligent, but surprisingly funny with how snarky she could be. Plus, Isaac also thought that she was very pretty, but kept that to himself.

"No problem. I saw how bad it was in here and didn't want you to have to deal with it alone," he said modestly to her. The reason they decided that now was a good time to clean Steven's mess of a room was that a bird somehow got inside and started building a nest. The job was almost complete, with Isaac picking up some toys off the floor and organized them on the window. He did it like how Pearl showed him. "Animal…humanoid…hmmm, miscellaneous."

Isaac then walked down the stairs and joined Pearl. The two looked at their work and saw how sparkly clear it was. "Perfect!" Pearl nodded with a proud smile. Isaac nodded with her.

"Soooo, what else do you want to do," he asked.

"What?"

"I was…kind of hoping that we could hang out, so I was just wondering what you usually do for fun," Isaac clarified, scratching the back of his head bashfully.

Pearl looked a little surprised, with a slight flush. Ever seen Isaac came to Beach City, she found his company to be rather pleasant. Not only was he a good role model for Steven and watched out for him, but he was also brave, kind-hearted, and hard-working. He was overall a good man. The moments they spent together were great and even made her happy, but she couldn't help but have a strange feeling about him. Now, she just didn't know how to react to just hanging out with the human. Was it like those dates Rose and Greg went on? Was he asking her on a date!? No, it couldn't be that. They were friends and would continue to be just that, right?

"Well…"

The moment was interrupted when Garnet came busting into the house. "We've got an emergency in town!" Isaac and Pearl looked at each other and nodded. The subject was dropped, and they followed Garnet out the house.

* * *

To make a long story short, Steven found out that Onion had a Ranger Guy and wanted to trade with the freaky kid. The only problem was that he wouldn't have anything that Steven was offering until he offered a Gem device that was able to replicate objects that belonged to Pearl. How he got a hold of it, they have no idea. But once Onion got his hands on the replicator, he caused serious mayhem by causing a floor of one of the G.U.Y.S. Luckily Steven was able to get it back, after finding out the Ranger Guy that Onion had was _his_ and the boy stole it from Steven. Steven was able to make please with Onion, and Garnet destroyed the replicator, making the other G.U.Y.S. go away.

Tomorrow came, and it was raining all day. So, the Gems and hybrids spent most of the time in the house. Lion was sleeping outside under the house. Late in the afternoon, Steven decided that they could spend the time watching a movie. So, Isaac and the Crystal Gems joined him on the second floor. Sitting on the floor at the end of the young boy's bed, they all watched the movie _Lonely Blade IV_ , the fourth movie in a popular Japanese samurai movie series.

On-screen, two characters confront each other. One was a samurai and the other one was a janitor. _"It was you! You were the one who killed my brother. Cursing me to fight alone forever!"_ Said the samurai in Japanese. English dubs of the movies were extremely rare, so they had to use the Japanese version with the subtitles.

"Oh, Lonely Blade, you so lonely," said Steven, as Amethyst ate some popcorn. Isaac was sitting next to Pearl. The blonde would take any chance he had to make fun of the movie while the Gem next to him watched with a confused expression.

"Yeah, it not like he had many other people helping him and a girlfriend," Isaac joked with a smirk.

" _You think you can defeat me?"_ asked an obviously evil janitor with a broom. The guy then pulled his broom handle and revealed it to have a blade inside it. _"The President of the Shadow Samurai Government?!"_

As he was sitting on top of Garnet's hair, Steven was shocked by this. "What?! The janitor is the evil samurai president?! That's bananas!"

"Oh, come on, it was so obvious. He's been mopping in the background of every fight scene," Pearl said, before picking up the movie cover and showed it to Steven "Look, here he is on the cover of the box."

Lonely Blade then pulled out both of his katanas and put them together by their pommels. This was one part of the movie that Isaac didn't really like. While the first three Lonely Blade movies had realist sword fights that were grounded to reality, the fourth movie decided to forgo that for a more cartoonish and over the top fighting style. And the biggest one of them was the Boomerang Blade.

"Go, Lonely, go!" Steven chanted excitedly as Amethyst ate some more popcorn. "Do the Boomerang Blade again!"

"Oh, come on, this is ridiculous," Pearl complained. "Just look at their form, this is nothing like _real_ sword fighting." Garnet shushed her, but Isaac could understand where she was coming from, as she was a swordfighter.

Steven laughed and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "It's just a movie, Pearl," he said and stuffed his mouth with the popcorn.

"Well, if you ever want to see a demonstration of proper sword techniques, I'd be happy to show you," Pearl offered, and that got Isaac's attention.

"You'd do that for me," he asked, getting her attention.

Pearl looked at him with wide eyes with a bit of a blush on her cheeks. "You actually want to learn?"

"Well, sure," Isaac said, moving his body so that he was sitting and facing her. Steven and the others were looking at them, with the boy staring with stars in his eyes. "I'm only self-taught and all I ever really do is swing my sword around. Since you're an actual swordfighter, you can teach me a thing or two."

Pearl gasped and smiled. "You're right! Very well then."

* * *

Isaac looked around at where they were and was amazed. Pearl and the other Gems brought the boy hybrids to a large open area with tiled ground and marble obelisks lining both sides of the area. Each engraved with a Gem statue and Gem language. They place looked like it was in ruin, but what took Isaac's breath away was that they were actually in up in the sky, surrounded by a mass of clouds. It turned out the place belonged to Pearl, and it was where she would train in private.

As they waited for Pearl to get started, Isaac and the others were waiting on the stairs. Isaac, Steven, and Garnet were sitting on the steps, while Amethyst was lying on one of the small clouds. Pearl then walking over while holding two saber swords. "Alright, in order to give a proper demonstration, I'm going to need a sparring partner," Pearl told them. Steven began to raise his hand, but Garnet immediately lowered it.

Isaac stood up and said, "Okay, let's do this."

Pearl turned to him and said, "Actually, Isaac, I want you to watch and see the demonstration. Luckily, I have the perfect candidate right here." Pearl's gemstone glowed. She then started to gracefully dance with both swords in hand, before ending by summoning a holograph copy of herself. It faced her, as the two stood in the same poses, with a holographic light connecting from Pearl's gem to the clone.

"Cooool! Hologram Pearl!" Steven said, and Isaac nodded in agreement.

Amethyst, however, didn't share the same enthusiasm and groaned, "Ah, geez."

With a single swing of her sword, Pearl cut the light between her and the clone. This activated the clone and it became its own being. _"Do you wish to engage in combat?"_ It asked.

"Let this be the perfect battle," Pearl said and tossed one the swords she had to her copy.

The Holo-Pearl caught the sword. _"You've already made a mistake by challenging me!"_ The clone said with confidence and it got into a fighting pose.

Pearl laughed and got in her fighting pose. "We shall let our swords decide."

"Nerd!" Amethyst yelled to Pearl before both Steven and Garnet shushed her. Isaac sat back down on the steps of the stairs and watched closely at the duel that he was waiting to begin.

Holo-Pearl eyes reddened and changed into a glare. _"Commencing duel."_ Immediately, it lunges towards Pearl with its sword out in a thrust. Pearl blocked the attack, causing a small shockwave that blew in the faces of the observers and even knocked over Steven.

Pearl and Holo-Pearl ran together, facing each other before the fight continued. Isaac watched Pearl as she blocked the hologram's attacks. Pearl then swung at her clone, but Holo-Pearl flipped back and continued to swing and slash at the Gem, and Pearl blocked and parried them. She then jumped high up into the air when Holo-Pearl swung at her torso. Pearl landed and block incoming attacks, before holding an attack with her sword.

" _Defense rank S. Zero openings detected,"_ Holo-Pearl said, pushing against Pearl's block.

Steven cheered, "Go, Pearl, go!"

"Go Holo-Pearl!" Amethyst cheered.

Pearl glared at Amethyst when she cheered/mocked. But this distracted her, and the hologram disarmed Pearl. Isaac gasped when her sword was sent flying in the air, before landing behind the hologram. _"Opening detected."_ Holo-Pearl attacked the Gem, but Pearl dodged the incoming attack. Sliding underneath the clone's sword swung and grabbed her sword. She then blocked another attack, knocking the clone off balance. This allowed her to lunge her blade at the hologram landing a hit that sent Holo-Pearl away and rolling on the ground.

When it stopped, it was lying on its back and the eyes were back to normal. _"Match set. Challenger wins."_

"Woohoo! Yay, Pearl!" Steven cheered with excitement and ran over to Pearl. Isaac followed.

Holo-Pearl sat up. _"Do you wish to battle again?"_

Isaac walked up to Pearl as Steven circled excitedly around her. "That was incredible!" the blonde said with a smile. "You were awesome out there."

Pearl blushed at Isaac's compliments of her and laughed. "Oh-ho-ho, well, one does try their best," she said. Pearl then had her gemstone glow, and Isaac watched as another sword came out of it, just like how she summoned police tape. This one was a katana. Pearl grabbed it and handed the sword to Isaac. "I remembered you told me about the Japanese katana, and I decided to get one. Let's get started with your training."

"Aw~ are you giving a gift to your boyfriend," Amethyst asked, mocking her. However, it made the two blushed. Those blushes only grew when Isaac and Pearl glanced at one another, and quickly looked away and backed up from each other.

Steven, not taking note of how embarrassed Isaac and Pearl were, started making sword-fighting movements. "Will you teach me to sword fight like you, too?!" He asked with excitement.

Pearl snapped out of it and laughed at him. "Alright, but we should start with the basics," she said. Pearl then turned to the hologram and cleared her throat. "Initiate, training mode."

The hologram raised to its feet. _"Training mode initiated. Level 1. Begin!"_

"I want you two to stand back, and watch me carefully, okay," Pearl asked Isaac and Steven. The two boys complied and backed away from her, giving her room to fight. Isaac then got in a fighting stance just like Pearl but had two hands on the handle.

Holo-Pearl began the training with some basic attacks that Pearl easily blocked. _"Parry! Parry! Thrust!"_ The clone chanted this continuously as it yelled each attack out loud.

"Do you see what I'm doing with my feet, Isaac? Notice where I keep my center of gravity." Isaac looked at her and listened to what she was telling him. He tried to match each of her parry and thrust movements while handling the katana. Keeping his feet positioned in a stance that kept his center of gravity with hers.

But while Isaac was listening and mimicking Pearl's instructions and movements, Steven started to lose excitement. "Aw, can you show us something cool? Like the Boomerang Blade!"

"Steven, that's not a real sword technique," Isaac scolded him. "Now listen to Pearl and concentrate."

However, Steven started to chant. "Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade!"

Fed up with him, Pearl turned her attention to Steven. "Steven, these are real sword techniques," she said in an annoyed tone. Continuing to block the clone's attacks. "Not those silly things from your movies. It's about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to—"

 _"Thrust."_

Holo-Pearl stab Pearl in the stomach and Pearl's eyes widened and she groaned briefly.

For Isaac, it was like everything stopped as he stared at Pearl with wide, horrified eyes and gasped. He heard Steven gasp in horror too and the two other Gems also being shocked. But he didn't pay attention to them. He could only watch in horror as Pearl stood there before she dropped her sword, which hit the ground with a loud _clang_.

He walked up to her. "…Pearl?" Isaac could barely speak as he reached his hands out to her.

Pearl looked at the sword sticking out of her chest and chuckled nervously. "W-whoopsie-daisy!" She then saw Isaac in front of her and the look of horror, fear, and devastation. Pearl knew what he was thinking and grasped both of his hands with hers, trying to reassure him. "Isaac, it's okay. I'm gonna be just—"

It was as if everything went deaf for Isaac as he watched the Gem he admired suddenly poofed into a cloud of dust. Leaving nothing but her gemstone. He stared at the gemstone as it started to fall. However, he caught it his hands but fell to his knees. Isaac stared down at the gem of Pearl with his eyes tearing up. Tears fell down on the gem. And then, his own gem started to glow.

"P-Pearl? Peaaarl..." Steven cried as he kneeled down next Isaac. However, his attention was then caught by something else. Just like at the Gems' birthday party, steam was flowing off of Isaac's arms. But it wasn't just his arms anymore. His shoulders and his back now had steam and smoke coming off of them. As his gem glowed and steam bellowed off his body, Isaac's hands started turning black, and large black veins started sprouting out and up to his arms.

When Garnet saw this, she gasped in terror. "STEVEN, GRAB PEARL AND RUN!"

Steven looked at her with confused and teary eyes but then saw more steam and smoke coming off Isaac's body. He did as he's told and snatched Pearl's gem out of Isaac's hands and ran towards the others for safety. Isaac didn't seem to notice, and the others watched as he stood up.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Suddenly he roared out in fury, causing a shockwave that knocked everyone on their butts when a large flame burst from his body. Isaac's fists, arms, shoulders, and back were now fire. And it wasn't like a normal flame, but like a wildfire had ignited from his body. His muscles and blood veins were much more prominent, and his eyes emitted a yellowish glow. The ground around him burned and the floor under him melted, as an intense heatwave shot off his body. Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven looked at Isaac's body with wide eyes. Paralyzed by shock and fear by what they were witnessing.

This power could only have come from Onyx. It was called Hellfire.

"PEEEAAAAARRRLLLL!" Isaac let out another enraged yell of pain and sorrow. And then, he fell on his front. Out cold. The fire was put out instantly, and the black veins on his arms and hands disappeared. His eyes went back to normal as he laid his head on its side.

Steven snapped out of his shock and ran to his friend. He ran over to Isaac and flipped him over on his back. Surprisingly, none of his clothing was damaged at all. "Isaac are you—" Steven stopped when he saw the blonde's face.

"Steven, what's wrong?" Amethyst asked as she and Garnet ran over to see what was wrong. When they saw Isaac's face, however, they too were shocked. "Whoa."

* * *

Multiple images flashed in Isaac's head that it was impossible to make out any of them. Several of them looked to be of happy things, while others were of horrific and terrible things. It was all very hard to make out, but Isaac was able to see three of them. One was of three tall silhouetted figures that towered over him. The second was of what looked like Rose Quartz, due to the pink curly hair he saw. And the last one was of a baby.

Isaac gasped and jointed up. Sweeting bullets as he looked ahead with wide eyes and his pupils shrunken down. "Isaac!" He was tackled by Steven. He was crying in his chest before looking up at him. "You're okay! I was so worried when you didn't wake up!"

"Steven? What's going on?" Isaac looked around and saw that he was lying on his air mattress, which was set up in front of Steven's bed, with his day clothes on. From the look of things out the window, it was still miserable outside.

That then Garnet and Amethyst came over. Amethyst was riding atop the floating cloud, while Garnet walked up the stairs. "Hey! Look who's up?" Amethyst cheered.

Garnet sat down on Steven's bed, as the boy let go of Isaac. "How're you feeling?"

Isaac adjusted himself so that he was sitting more comfortably. "I don't know," he admitted, putting a hand on his head. But as he remembered things before blacking out, he gasped. "PEARL!" Isaac shoot up and looked at Garnet. Grabbing her by her shoulders and looked at her with devastation. "Where is she!? Is she really…?"

Garnet gently placed her hands on his arms and moved them slowly away. "Isaac, it's okay, Pearl's gonna be just fine," she said. When she saw Isaac blinked at her with teary eyes, she explained further. "Sometimes, if our bodies are badly damaged, we release our physical forms and retreat to our gems to regenerate."

"Don't worry, man. These kinds of things just happen sometimes," Amethyst said. "Usually to me."

"Always to you."

"Hey, I'm scrappy. Whaddya want?"

Steven then came over with Pearl's gemstone place into a handbasket. "I've been keeping it incubated until you woke up," he said, before looking up at Isaac's face. "I do like your cool mark though."

"What're you talking about," Isaac asked. Garnet pointed at the window behind him with her thumb. Isaac turned around and looked out the window. It was cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. But then when he saw his reflection, that's when he was what they were talking about; the very same crack-like scar mark his mother had on the right side of his face. Isaac reached up and touched it with his finger. "What the hell is this? How'd this happen?"

"When you used Hellfire," Garnet said to Isaac, getting everyone's attention. She was now speaking in a deadly serious voice. "An extremely powerful magical ability that's unique only Onyx. Fueled by rage, if it's able to be controlled, it could a powerful weapon, but, if it got out of control, it could destroy everything around you, Isaac. Even hurt people."

Isaac's eyes widened as he took in every word, and each one of them weighs a lot for him. He knew that great power needed to be handled and used with great responsibility. But know he had a power that was a double edge sword. It could be used to take on powerful monsters, but it could also hurt his friends.

He could have hurt Pearl with he unleashed his Hellfire.

"Well, let's not think about that for now," said Steven. He took Pearl out of the handbasket and held it up to Isaac. "The Gems said that you can help her!"

Isaac took Pearl gemstone and asked Garnet, "What do you mean?"

"Another one of Onyx's abilities was to regeneration a Gem's physical form. Your mother felt real love for those that were around and followed her, that when they're physical bodies were destroyed, she wanted to bring them back," Garnet told Isaac in a softer tone. "Just like the Hellfire, I know you have her regenerating powers."

Isaac looked at her in amazement before looking down at Pearl. "I'm not even sure how to do this," he said, looking to Garnet for help.

"All it took for her was to hold the gem, and they were back," Garnet said. "No matter how long they were gone."

"Well, how long has it been?"

"About two weeks now," Amethyst said bluntly

Isaac wiped around and looked at her with his eyes as big as dish plates. "I've been knocked out for two whole WEEKS!"

Amethyst floated over and looked down at Pearl in the young man's hands. "Yeah. She's really taking her time with this one," the purple Gem said, before looking at the rest of the house. The place was in a messy state, with trash everywhere, things thrown carelessly to the ground, and dishes piled up in the kitchen. No doubt because Steven hadn't been doing his own cleaning. "Gotta tell you though, love what Steven has done with the place."

"Why does it look like this, Steven," asked Isaac.

"Pearl usually helps me tidy up," Steven said sheepishly.

Isaac sighed and looked at Pearl's gemstone. "Well, that's another reason to bring her back."

"Eh, I say leave it," said Amethyst.

"Hey! If real Pearl can't be here, there's always the next best thing!" Steven exclaimed. He then down the steps and ran over to something tall that was being covered up by a sheet. Steven grabbed the sheet and removed it, revealing Holo-Pearl was under it.

The thing turned on and said, _"Do you wish to engage in combat?"_

Isaac looked at the clone with a glare. "You actually kept that thing!? What the hell!?" He yelled at Steven.

"But it's like Pearl," he said. "Look at it."

"Yeahhh I agree with Isaac," said Amethyst, looking at the hologram in disgust. "That ain't Pearl."

"Well, maybe I can get it to act like her."

* * *

While Steven was in the house with the clone, Isaac was standing on the beach with Pearl's gemstone in his hands. He stared at it for a moment, as the winds of the sea blew through his hair. "Alright Pearl, I know you're in there. I know that you're taking your time, but we could really need you here," he said, before cupping the smooth stone in his hands.

He believed that by channel his powers into his hands, then maybe he'd be able to regeneration his friend. But the thing is that Isaac didn't know how to do that. And as he continued to try and bring her back out, grunting while trying to force his powers out, there was still no progress.

Isaac sighed in frustration, before sitting down on the sand. "Why isn't this working!?"

"You trying to crush her," asked Amethyst as she and Garnet approached him. The purple Gem still sitting on her cloud.

"Yeah," Isaac whispered as he looked down at the gemstone. There just had to be a way to use the power.

Garnet stared at the blonde young man for a moment. "You don't take loss well, do you," she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Isaac nodded his head and stood back up. "When dad died, it felt like everything was falling apart. I had nowhere else to go. And...well, I just don't want to lose another person close to me," he sighed with a miserable. Before a hand is placed on his shoulder.

"I happy to hear that," Garnet said kindly as Amethyst got off her cloud and pulled it over as she walked to the other side of Isaac. "Your actions and words show that you really care about us and Steven."

"And you _like_ Pearl~!" Amethyst teased.

Making Isaac blush wildly, and he backed away from the two. "WHAT?! Wha-I-It's not like that!" Isaac shouted with wide eyes and face redded with embarrassment as Amethyst laughed out loud hysterically. He growled. "You jerk! That wasn't funny!"

"It's a little funny," Garnet said with a smirk. "Because it's true."

Isaac sighed in frustration as his blush remained on his face. It was true that Isaac really liked Pearl, but didn't think that it was a crush he had on her. Besides, it's not like she would see him like that, right?

He shook his head and stared at the two. "So what are you guys doing out here," he asked.

"I'm gonna eat this!" Amethyst said, grabbing the cloud.

Isaac's eyes widened. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Too late!" Amethyst suddenly swallowed the cloud whole. Chewing it before swallowing. Nothing happening at first and everything seemed to be okay. But then the short Gem inflated without warning, float upwards like a balloon. Garnet grabbed her before she floated off.

Isaac tried to hold in his chuckles, as it was just too funny to see the reckless Gem in such a ridiculous. "Y-You okay, Ames?" He asked, letting one laugh escape.

"You know its actually not that bad."

 _"I won't go easy on you this time!"_ Isaac heard a familiar robotic sound that made him frown. He sighed out of his nose, irked as Steven walked over to him, Garnet, and balloon Amethyst. Following him was Holo Pearl, now wielding an umbrella.

"What are you rascals doing over here?" Steven asked.

 _"Draw your weapon, challenger!"_ Holo Pearl yelled, before pointing the umbrella as though it were a sword at Isaac and opened it.

This angered Isaac, more than having to look at the thing. "Bring it on, bitch!" He growled, cracking his knuckles. However, before he attacked the clone, he was stopped when Garnet placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Ugh, Steven, why are you still hanging out with that thing? It's gross," Amethyst said, before burping out a piece of cloud.

Steven sat down on the sand and looked sadly at it. "I just really miss spending time with Pearl," he told her, before looking to Isaac. "Have you figured out how to bring her back?"

"If I did, then we wouldn't be in this situation," Isaac groaned, pushing away the umbrella still pointed at him. "I still don't even have full control of my freakin powers!"

Garnet still had her hand on Isaac as she said to him, "This isn't something that you can rush, Isaac. Your power can only come to you as you continue to grow and learn the ways of being a Crystal Gem. And if you can't figure it, then remember she's not dead. Pearl will come back to us in time. Have patience."

She then turned to Steven, and for a moment, Steven was sure that Garnet was going to give him some words of wisdom.

"And stop hanging out with that thing. It's creepy," Garnet said instead and crossed arms.

However, in doing so, she accidentally let go of Amethyst. With no control of her body and the direction she was going, Amethyst helplessly floated away. Isaac watched with wide eyes and Garnet just hummed a little.

* * *

Although it wasn't sunny, Isaac stared up at the clouds to watch them go by. Next to him was Pearl in her handbasket. The blonde had brought the Gem to her favorite cherry blossom tree ontop the hill. "You really know how to pick a place to relax, Pearl," he said, looking to the gemstone.

However, there was no response. Isaac sighed and looked back up at the sky.

"I wish you were here, Pearl. Many you could help me with something," he said, remembering back to the dear that he had before waking up. "I had this weird dream, or vision. I don't know. I couldn't see everything that was happening, but I remember three things. One was of these three figures, and then I saw Rose Quartz, or at least I think it was her. And the last one was of a baby. I was holding it in my arm as it was crying."

A gust of wind blew through the area, as Isaac was lost in thoughts for a moment. Why did he have that dream? Was there something important to it? "Ah! There you are!" Isaac's eyes widened when he heard Steven's voice and grunted in annoyance.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded as the boy and Holo-Pearl approached him. Steven was holding a stuffed walrus and Holo-Pearl was holding a balloon sword and wore a balloon crown. "I came here to get away from that fucking thing!"

"Oh, come on Isaac, you've gotta help me here," Steven said, sounding desperate for assistance. "I took it to the boardwalk, and it just cut up a bunch of things."

"Then why bring it here?!"

"Well...this is Pearl's favorite. I wanted to see if it would trigger some kind of memory." Steven then turned to the clone. "Don't you recognize it? What's on your mind? Come on, don't hold back."

Isaac sighed. Why was Steven trying so hard to make the clone something it wasn't. But then he was alerted when Holo-Pearl switched to combat mode _"Challenge accepted!"_

"GET DOWN!" Isaac grabbed Steven and ducked to the ground. A split second before Holo-Pearl sliced tree in half with the balloon sword. When Isaac got up, he looked to the tree and gasped in shock to see it on the ground. "Oh no, the tree!"

 _"Challenger defeated,"_ said Holo-Pearl as it switched to standby mode.

That was the final straw for Isaac and he grabbed the handbasket. "What did you do!? The Real Pearl would never do that!"

"But-"

"NO! I'm not going to see that _thing_ as Pearl and let's not forget that it was your fault that she's gone!" Isaac yelled, not seeing that he was hurt by that. "Grr, just get away from me!" He yelled and ran off.

When Isaac got back to the house, he opened the door and slammed it closed. He was still fuming, as he paced around the room. How could that thing cut down Pearl's tree? Something that was important to her? Isaac placed the handbasket on the table and sat down on the sofa. Trying to calm done.

Just then, Steven timidly walked into the house.

There was an awkward silence from the two.

Steven then walked over to the sofa and sat down next to Isaac, as guilt and shame started to settle in. The things he yelled at the boy were uncalled for.

"Yeah..."

"I'm sorry, Steven." The curly-haired boy gasped when Isaac that. The blonde sucked in his breath and turned his head to him. "I shouldn't have said that to you. I know you want Pearl back, and so do I. That's why I've been trying to regenerate her. But I just can't seem to do it..."

"No, you were right," Steven said, surprising Isaac a little. "I knew that should have just listened to what Pearl said, but I just wanted her to do something stupid. Damn, I'm stupid."

"Hey! No cursing from you!" Isaac snapped.

Steven was confused. "But don't you curse."

Isaac's eyes widened. Pearl was right. He's corrupting the boy! "That...That's because I'm old enough to do it!" He said. The two were silent for a moment before they started laughing together. Even when they were upset with each of, they couldn't stop being friends.

* * *

Night came, and it was belting down rain and lighting once more. Isaac was sitting on the window seal with his back against the wall. Watching the downpour while having Pearl's gemstone nestled in a blanket on his lap, Isaac was waiting for Steven. Garnet and Amethyst were out to do something, so it was just him and Steven for the night.

Isaac sighed and looked to the gem. "How long are you gonna make me-us wait, Pearl?"

Just then, Steven came over to him with a VSH tape cover in hand. "Hey, Isaac! I just found a copy of the fifth Lonely Blade movie!" He exclaimed with and showed the movie cover. That's when a beeping goes off in the kitchen and Steven gasped. "Oh, the popcorn's done. I'll get the movie ready, and you go get the popcorn."

Isaac got up and walked to the microwave after putting down Pearl gently on the window seal. He took out the popcorn, but when the blonde turned around, he was shocked to see Holo-Pearl suddenly appearing behind him. "What the!?"

 _"Do you wish to test your skills against me in a duel?"_

"No! Now leave me alone!" He walked away from the clone and grabbed Pearl. As he was attempting to walk up to Steven's bedroom, lightning flashed.

When Steven looked at Isaac, he gasped in fright. Isaac gasped stopped and looked confused at the boy. He turned around and yelped when he saw Holo-Pearl appeared behind him again. _"Draw your sword and fulfill your destiny!"_

"No! Leave Isaac, real Pearl, and me alone!" Steven yelled, before grabbing the sheet he used to cover it and the tossed it back over Holo-Pearl "Go back under your sheet."

* * *

Steven and Isaac watched the movie with Pearl's gem. This time the movie wasn't in Japanese but in English. _"Brother, is that you?"_ Lonely Blade asked a zombie that was supposed to be his brother.

 _"Yes. It's me. Your... brother. Your technique is..."_ said LB's brother as the audio played on in the background.

"Woah, this dub is really good. What do you think, Isaac?" Steven asked the blonde.

"It's okay, I guess," Isaac said with a shrug. "The writing could still be better."

 _"Parry!"_ Holo-Pearl suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind the boys, still under the sheet and with her sword poking out of it. Isaac and Steven growled in annoyance and continued to watch the movie.

LB's Brother suddenly yelled, _"_ _Brother!"_

 _"Just wait a minute... you're not my real brother!"_ Lonely Blade yelled back, and grabbed both his swords, before unsheathing them. _"Grr, Boomerang Blade!"_

 _"Your technique is impressive. But it won't be enough."_

Technique. That's what Isaac wanted to learn from Pearl. This movie had nothing on her when it came to fighting. But there was always the most important in a sword fight. That it was all about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to-

 _"Thrust!"_ Isaac gasped in shock when Holo-Pearl stabbed and broke the TV with its sword.

"Ah, the TV!" Steven yelled in distress. "Why must you destroy the things I love?"

The hologram pulled its sword out of the TV and stood straight again. _"Challenger defeated. Continue?"_

"Alright! Alright, that does it!" Isaac yelled, finally having enough of the clone and all the bullshit it's caused for him and the team. He stood up and turned around towards the Holo-Pearl. "You're not Pearl! You'll never be like Pearl! Pearl is smart, brave, beautiful, and she always wants to protect Steven from danger and help me be a Gem. All you want to do is fight us! Well guess want, bitch, you've got you're self a fight!"

 _"Challenge accepted!"_

Isaac growled and jumped down from the bedroom onto the couch below. He then hopped onto the floor and grabbed the katana sword that he had stowed away in one of the cabinets in the wall. Above the couch. He then walked back the stairs and stood in front of Steven and faced the Holo-Pearl. "Alright, let's dance!" He exclaimed with a glare, unsheathing the sword.

 _"Basic attack mode,_ initiated." said the clone, before it started to use very basic and easily blockable attacks. Isaac was able to parry and dodge these attacks as Holo-Pearl continued to yell _'Parry! Parry! Thrust!'_ over and over again.

Isaac's glaring eyes narrowed at the clone, before going on the attack. The Holo-Pearl blocked one swing, and then another slash. But when it thrust at him, Isaac dodged it before it could stab his chest. He then stabbed the clone in the head. And it stopped moving.

 _"Basic attack mode defeated."_ Isaac smiled when he heard that. _"Now initiating advanced mode!"_ Holo-Pearl yell, with eyes turning red.

Isaac's eyes widened. "Wait, what?" He asked, and his gemstone started glowing.

Holo-Pearl suddenly and quickly cut the sheet over it to shreds, slashing across his chest. Isaac screamed in pain as blood gushed out, let go of his sword and backing away. Something flew past him, making his eyes widened. He looked behind and saw the katana Pearl gave him was stabbed into the wall, missing him and flying over Steven's head.

When he looked back to the Holo-Pearl, it'd just finished shredding the sheet. Isaac quickly summoned his mother's sword and blocked a chop and then diagonal slash. "Steven, stay back!" He yelled, before ducking his head to avoid getting it cut off. He jumped down and landed on the couch, rolled off before Holo-Pearl stabbed into the couch.

Isaac got behind the tea table, flipping up on its side and kicking it towards the clone.

In one strong swing, the Holo-Pearl chopped it in half. It swung at him again, and Isaac blocked the attack. He backed away, but his back hits the counter. Isaac dodged another attack that cut into the wooden counter. Sidestepping to the left, and backing away to the door.

The Holo-Pearl continued attacking by unleashing a flurry of attacks. Isaac struggled to block the attacks, but some of the slashes cut into his body. Drawing blood, but nothing that was too serious. He was then kicked hard in the stomach.

Pain rippled through Isaac's body as he broke through the door. "Isaac!" Steven yelled as Holo-Pearl walked out of the house.

On the porch, as it was still raining, Isaac dragged himself away as the clone menacingly approached him. Raising its sword above its head to stab him.

Isaac's eyes widened and summoned another sword.

Holo-Pearl brought her sword down and Isaac swung up.

Steven closed his eyes, not wanting to see his friend die. But instead of flesh being cut into, he heard what sounded like a sounded like a game dying.

Isaac also had his eyes closed, but when he felt nothing, he opened them. He gasped when the saber only a few inches away from his face. There was a gaping space that separated the body into two halves.

Holo-Pearl stood back up straight and the rain stopped. It glitched for a moment. _"Challenger wins. Do you wish to duel again?"_

"Noooo!" smoke appeared on his arm as Isaac roared in anger, before jumping to his feet and started hatching and slashing the hologram. Cutting it up and began to wipe away its remaining remnants.

Finally, after being missing for hours, Garnet and a still inflated Amethyst came running up the stairs to the house. "Isaac, we heard fighting," said the stoic Gem, pulling Amethyst along like a balloon.

"Garnet!" Steven yelled with joy and ran over to her. Isaac's wounds started healing again as he panted in exhaustion.

As Steven hugged the tall Gem, Amethyst looked to Isaac and saw the blood on his clothing, the cuts in his clothing, and the last amount of steam disappearing. "Isaac, are you alright? What happened to you?

"What happened to me? Where the hell with you two!?" Isaac exclaimed, before seeing the hologram beginning to regenerate again. He chopped it down the middle, breaking through the wood of the porch. "DIE!" He panted afterward, as the other stared at him, a little frightened.

When they walked into the house again, Steven started explaining what happened as Isaac walked up to his room to grab Pearl's gemstone. Wiping some blood off his cheek. As Steven was finishing the story, Isaac picked up Pearl with his bloody hand. "You know, you're right Garnet. Maybe it's best to just wait-" he stopped when something started to glow brightly.

Everyone and the blonde saw that it was Pearl's gem that was glowing. They all watched as she flew up and hovered in the air. Isaac watched as in wonder as it formed a body that glowed and changed shapes. After a second, it was complete and Pearl was regeneration with a slightly different outfit. Now wearing an aqua blue tunic with a small gold star on the center of her chest and a lighter satin sash ribbon around her upper waist. Her leggings are amber-colored. She also wore pink socks with pale blue slip-on ballet flats.

Pearl gasped as she landed on the ground. "What just happened? I was wanting to do a few more adjustments," she said in confusion, looking at her outfit. It wasn't bad at all, but it wasn't what she was hoping for it to be. However, she then noticed Isaac standing near her, staring with wide eyes and gaping jaws. As well as covered in blood from healed wounds. "OH, MY STARS! Isaac, what happened to-"

"PEARL!" Isaac yelled out loud and grabbed Pearl in a bone-crushing hug. "It's really you!"

"OH! Y-Yes, Isaac. It's me." She stammered a bit. Taken aback by Isaac huge showing of affection.

Isaac set her down and gripped her face with his hands to get a good look at her. "It's really you, right!? No some trick? But really you?!" He asked hysterically, with tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "I thought...I thought for sure you were..."

"Yes, Isaac. I'm not gone," Pearl said gently to the distressed hybrid, trying to calm him down. She took his hands and pulled them away from her face to hold them. Then Steven came running over to hug her. "Oof, hey, miss me much?" But then she noticed the mess that the room was in, as Garnet walked over down below, pulling Amethyst. "Uh, Steven. What happened to your room?" That's when Pearl saw the inflated Amethyst. "I don't even want to know what happened to you."

"I got hit by an airplane!" Amethyst said in a funny voice.

Garnet then said, "You seem surprised to be back."

"Kind of," Pearl admitted, pushing Steven away as the three of them walked down the stairs to join the other Crystal Gems. "I didn't regenerate on my own. It was like I was pulled back out."

"Well, Isaac's been trying to regenerate you after he woke up from his coma, but nothing was happening," Steven said.

Pearl looked at Isaac with widening eyes. "You have Onyx's regenerating power-wait!" She stopped before screaming, "YOU WERE IN A COMA!? HOW?! WHY?!"

"Well...I..." Isaac tried to explain before Amethyst interrupted him.

"Hey, Pearl. You got some blood on your gem," she said. Pearl was a little confused at first, before wiping her hand on her smooth stone. Sure enough, the red spot on her head wiped away and revealed to be blood, much to her disgust.

"Yeah, sorry, I before you regenerated I pick you up with my...bloody...hand..." Isaac's sentence came to a slow stop as his eyes widened with realization. He looked at his hand and looked that the blood smeared on it. Steven and Amethyst gasped as Garnet nodded. "No way."

"You don't have a regenerating touch, you have regenerating _blood_!" Steven proclaimed loudly with a big happy smile and his hands raised in the air. "Ah man, I had this whole thing planned out for when Isaac brought you back!"

He ran off as Isaac stared at his hand for a moment. Pearl noticed how quiet he was and was a little concerned. "Isaac? Are you..." He surprised her by hugging her again, but this time more gently.

With all the emotions going through his head, he couldn't help it. Isaac smiled as he started to sob lightly. "I'm so happy you're here. Please don't leave me," he said through some tears.

While blushing, Pearl responded by hugging him back. Placing a hand behind his head and gently stroking it. She wouldn't and say that she's never met a human like Isaac. He was caring, yet brutal and smart. She oddly found herself being drawn to him like no other human. But most of all, he was a good man. Someone she doesn't want to disappear.

"I won't."

* * *

 **AN: And that's another chapter for you all. Next time I'll be looking at "Lion 2: the Movie.**

 **Thank you very much for reading. "Gem of War" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and also Review it. If you any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please in a Review or a PM me.**

 **Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.**


	12. Act One: Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Let's go to the Movies**

"I just still can't believe it," Pearl said with a hand under her chin. The three alien Gems were currently warping back to the Temple after another successful mission. But for Pearl, she was still concerned about Isaac. Yesterday, the Gem was regenerated by Isaac after two weeks of remaining in her gemstone. After Steven and Isaac went to bed, Garnet explained to Pearl what happened to the blonde man. Needless to say, she was both shocked and worried. "Hellfire? Isaac actually was able to use that power?"

"Yeah, it was pretty fucking awesome!" Amethyst exclaimed with a big grin.

Pearl, however, wasn't so enthused. "But what are the consequences of someone so inexperienced like Isaac using such a destructive and dangerous power? When Onyx first used it, she annihilated every Homeworld Gem without miles of her. Of course, that was after the Diamonds..."

"But Isaac isn't like Onyx. He's half-human. He's still learning his powers and its a slow progress," Garnet said.

Pearl sighed and looked away. "You say that, but... every time he around, it's like she's still with us," she said depressingly with a hand on her cheek. It was the same thing with Steven. It was like Rose was still around with him.

"Yo! We're almost there," Amethyst said as they were almost to the house. "I wonder what kind of trouble those two are getting into."

* * *

"Whooaaa," Steven said with his irises turning into fireworks shapes. At the house, Steven's human friend Connie was showing Steven and Isaac the trailer for the new movie coming out called _Dogcopter 3_ on her phone. It was the third installment in the movie franchise based on the books, _Dogcopter_. It is about a dog, who is part-helicopter, that defeats robots to save the world. "I can see why this is your favorite film franchise."

Connie adjusted her glasses. "That's right! In a world where humanity is pushed to the brink, it turns out that the one who is most human is a dog!" She proclaimed. "-copter."

"A dogcopter that know where to put his missile," Isaac joked while standing behind the counter. On the counter were Steven and his backpack and some snacks that they were taking to the movie.

Connie chuckled and blushed with a mischievous smirk. "Yeah. I just hope it stays faithful to the book," she said.

"I'm sure they're not." Isaac and the two kids then saw the warp pad activates. As Connie stared at the column of light with wide eyes, Isaac said, "They're back early." They walked towards the warp pad as the Gems appeared. All do different poses.

Garnet was still posing when she said, "Greetings."

Pearl opened her eyes and saw Isaac, before looking down at Steven and noticed that Connie was there with them. "Oh! Well, hello, Connie! What a surprise to see you!"

"We're gonna watch a movie about a wacky, flying dog! Show 'em, Connie!" Steven exclaimed with excitement

"I mean, it's about, much more than that," Connie said, restarting the trailer and then held up the phone to the Gems.

"It's pretty wacky to me," Isaac said with a lopsided smile.

As the screen of the phone showed Dogcopter barking, Amethyst chuckled. "Oh-ho-ho, that's easy!" She told the kids before shapeshifting into Dogcopter. She started her propeller and flew upwards.

"Whoooaaa?!" Connie yelled as she watched the purple Gem hover in the air.

"Who needs to go see movies when you've got, magiiiiic!" Amethyst then shapeshifted her head into a boombox and started played upbeat tempo music. Garnet nods her head to the beat, as Pearl looked annoyed at Amethyst's showing off. Groaning in annoyance.

"Aw, stop showin' off, Amethyst," Isaac said with a smirk. "Besides, don't you promise that this movie's going to be even better than any magic, Connie?"

"I did _not_ say that."

"And check this out!" Steven turned around and walked over to counter. He turned to the Gems and gestured to the snacks they were preparing to take. "We got our own snacks."

Connie turned to explain the reason to Garnet and Pearl. My parents say I'm not allowed to buy snacks at the theater, So, we're not buying _anything_ at the theater."

Amethyst shapeshifted her head back to normal and flew past Connie, Garnet, and Pearl. "Nom! Noms!" She yelled eagerly and approached Steven, who shielded the snacks with his arms. "Feeeed me!"

"Hands off, Amethyst!" Steven yelled. "These are for me, Connie, and Isaac to share at the movie!"

"Speaking of which, how are we getting to the theater?" Connie asked the young boy. "It's... kinda far." Isaac and Steven stuffed all of the snacks into their Cheeseburger and Taco Backpack.

"Yeah, and I don't have a car to take us there," said the blonde man.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered," Steven said with confidence and a funny look. "Today, we're gonna travel in style!"

* * *

"Introducing the finest in luxury transportation... Lion!" Steven yelled, introducing a bewildered Connie to the giant pink lion that was sitting on the sand with his back facing them. Lion looked over his shoulder at her and the two hybrids before yawning and lied down. "Aw, you little goofball." He walked over to Lion and pressed his face into his mane.

Connie was hiding behind Isaac's legs, slightly frightened by Lion. "You have a pet lion?!" She asked.

Steven lifted his face out of Lion's mane to look at her. "Lion is sorta like a pet," he told her. "He does his own thing most of the time, though."

The three heard some crunking and chomping sounds. Isaac and the kids looked around Lion and saw that he was chomping down on something as sparkling with feathers falling out of his mouth. They then looked down and saw that he was eating an half-eaten Crystal Basilisk that was by his paws.

"I'm afraid to ask where he got that from," said Isaac.

"Wow, Steven and Isaac. Everything in your lives is so awesome and magical," Connie said, before picking up a stick of the ground. "The most exciting thing in my life is tennis practice." She got into a tennis stance and swung the stick from her left to her right. "Forehand!" She then swung the stick from her right and back to her left. "Backhand!" For her final move, she brought the stick to the center of her body, bringing it up and then slamming it down. "Overhead death strike!"

"Whoa! Tennis is rad!" Steven said.

Connie picked up the stick again. "Well, I made up that last one."

Lion snarled, getting the three's attention. "I think we should get going," said Isaac. He and the child climbed onto the pink lion. The two kids sat in front of him, with Steven in front of Connie, Connie sandwiched between the hybrids, and the blonde young man sat in the back. "Alright, let's go!" Isaac pointed forward.

However, Lion just continued to stands there. Not moving with an expectant-looking Steven, Connie, and Isaac.

"We're off!" Isaac shouted, slapping Lion's butt. "Let's go!"

"Let me try," Steven said, before rubbing Lion's mane. "Uhh... Lion, I want you to take us to the movie." The group waited for a few seconds, but Lion was still not moving. "Okay, you're not listening to me."

"I thought you were his owner or something," Isaac said.

Steven looked at Connie and his older friend before chuckling nervously. "Well, Lion isn't trained very well. But I'm not trained very well either, so we're a—"

Lion's eyes widened and he roared, rearing up on his hind-legs. This took everyone on his back by surprise, before they hung on tightly as he charged forward. But as soon as the surprise was over, the three started laughing. Haning onto Lion as he ran through Beach City.

However, Lion changed direction and started to run towards the ocean.

"Uh, Steven, what's going on?" Isaac asked, worried about what the lion was going to do.

"Waaait, Lion! Don't go in the oceeeeeaaaaan!" Steven yelled before he and Connie screamed as Lion jumped high into the air. Going straight for the deep part of the ocean. Isaac closed his eyes and turned his head away as he waited for the impact of the water.

But it didn't happen. Instead, Lion landed on the ocean and was standing upright as if he were still on land, not sinking at all. Isaac opened his eyes and looked down at the water. Amazed by Lion's ability. Steven and Connie were seeing this too, and the young boy looked to his pet with wonder. "You can walk on water," he asked as Connie adjusted her glasses, and Isaac was panting to calm his beating heart. "Why don't you tell me you can do these things you dooooo?!" Lion started running again.

Isaac kept his grip on Lion's mane, as he, Steven and Connie appeared to be amazed and happy. Looking up with wonder at some seagulls that flew alongside them. Isaac reached out to touch one, but the birds broke away and went off in a different direction.

A boat with a few people onboard came into view in front of them. As Lion ran past it, they were close up to the side of the boat. Steven, as friendly as ever, waved at the shocked sailors on the boat and greeted them, "Hey-o!"

"How's it hanging!?" Isaac also greeted, making both Steven and Connie begin to laugh. Isaac then looked down as gasped in wonder upon seeing the shadow of two whales on the water under them. Lion ran over both of the reflections as the blonde stared at them with astonishment.

But as they were getting further away from the beach, Connie looked at Steven and Steven looked back at her. "Uh... are you sure he knows where he's going," she asked him, snapping Isaac out of it.

"Maybe it's... a short cut?" Steven responded, unsurely.

Lion jumped up and his eyes begin to glow white. He let out a mighty roar, shooting out across the water a pink ring with a smaller circle inside of it. The rings then formed a big pink edged white portal.

"Oh man," Isaac said as Steven and Connie screamed, while Lion continued running right towards the portal. "This is gonna-"

Lion went in through the portal and it shut behind him. A fish jumped out of the water and then dived back in.

* * *

"SUUUUUUCCCKKKK!" Isaac yelled as Steven and Connie continue to scream. They were traveling through what could only be described as a stargate from _2001: a Space Odyssey_. Starry blue and white lights pasted them as the four of them goes through the portal. Steven is hanging onto Lion's mane, while Connie has her arms wrapped around Steven's waist. Isaac was keeping the both of them in front of him and on Lion's back as the air and forced against them would have taken them off the animal.

"Has he ever done this?" Connie asked.

"No. This is new!" Steven replied.

"Where's he taking us?" Isaac asked the big question.

"I don't know," Steven said, as their portal adventure came to an end. The portal opened up again and they go through it, causing the portal to quickly close again. Lion skidded across a body of water with his eyes glowing white, rotating around to face forward.

Isaac and the kids groaned from the experience before Lion sat down. Causing the three passengers to fall off of him and into the shallow water.

"Dick," Isaac groaned as he combed his hair with his hand to drain the water out of it. Steven raised his head and sighed, before shaking his head like a wet dog. Connie raised her head slightly and pushed her wet hair out of her face. Isaac stood up and looked down at the two. "Are you okay?"

"That was really cool," Connie commented.

Isaac smiled at her optimism and looked around at where they were. They were in a large cave with a raised circular platform surrounded by the shallow water that covered the floor of the cave. On that platform, Lion roars quietly, causing both Steven and Connie to look in his direction with Isaac. He turned around and began walking to the center of the platform.

Steven and Isaac climbed the stairs to the platform after him. "Lion! Wait! Where are you going?!" Steven asked. But when he reached the top, he gasped while Connie was looking around in wonder, causing her to walk right into Steven since she wasn't paying attention to where she is going.

"Oof! Whoa! Is this one of those magic Gem places that you've told me about," asked Connie.

"I've...never seen a place like this," Isaac replied, walking towards the center of the platform with the kids behind him. There was nothing noticeable about the cave or the platform. That changed when Steven stepped on the center of it. Isaac looked down with wide eyes as the platform began to glow bright white. The glowing white lights head to a circle in the very center next to Lion. The light became a beam that shoots a few feet upwards.

"Yep. Magic gem place," Steven said.

They all watched as a hand shaped structure raised out of the now faded beam of light. The pedestal appeared in the shape of a hand with Rose Quartz's symbol and thorn design on the palm.

Steven, Connie, and Isaac both run over to the hand structure. "Lion, normally I'm all about this stuff, but this is not the movies," Steven told the animal. Isaac and Connie started to study the structure intently, crouching down to be at eye level with it.

Lion roared quietly.

"What does that mean, Lion?" Steven yelled incredulously, throwing his hands up into the air before placing them on his head briefly. He then threw them forward in exasperation. "What does that even mean?"

"Steven, use your head for a minute," Isaac said, placing a hand on the structure and began to run his hand down it. Feeling the smoothness of the surface. "What if he brought you here for a reason?"

"Well, maybe, but if we don't hurry, we're gonna miss the commercials," Steven complained and began to count on his fingers. Connie stood up, placing a finger on her cheek in a thinking manner. "and then we might miss the previews, and we still have to find the perfect seats..." She then picked up one of Steven's hand a placed it on the structure. "...near the front but not too close..."

He stopped when after his hand was placed on the structure, it began to glow. Making Isaac, Steven, and Connie gasp. The platform has begun to glow white now as the young girl looked around at the glowing platform. "Hey, I think it likes you!" She said loudly.

Steven tried to pull his hand off the pedestal, but to his surprise, he couldn't. "Ah! AAAH! My hand's stuck! It won't come off!" He grunted as he continued to try and pull it off.

"Hang on! "Isaac placed both of his hands on Steven's arms and tried to help him yank it off the structure. Trying to not use his full strength to do it. Steven has starting to look scared and Isaac was started to get concerned. Connie then came over and all three pulled back really hard, grunting while sweat was visible on her face. Isaac still trying to avoid using his super strength, fearing that he'll rip Steven's hand off it.

They stopped and Isaac looked at Steven's hand. It didn't even budge an inch or looked like it was sticking on with some kind of adhesive or restraint. It must have been magic. "Damn, that's really stuck on good," he whispered in frustration.

"I guess we'll have to chop it off," Connie suggested.

"What?!" Steven incredulously asked.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a pink pillar raised up from the platform a few feet away. Reveal a white case that opened to reveal many swords in a straight line. As Isaac stared with stars in his eyes, Connies puts both of her arms close to her body in an excited gesture. "Hey, swords!"

"Awesome!" Isaac yelled with a big grin on his face, before running over to look at the weapons.

"NO!" Steven suddenly shouted, causing Lion and Connie to look at him. Before Isaac could reach the swords, a pink circle appeared above the swords, pushing them back down into the platform and out of sight.

"What the?!" Isaac gasped. When he reached where the swords once were, he reached down and tried to somehow pull them back up. He turned around and looked at Steven. "How'd you do that?"

"I don't know," he said

"Well, can you bring them back," Isaac pleaded as he walked back over to the kids and Lion.

"Um, okay." Steven began flexing his arm and grunting, trying to make something happen on the platform. However, nothing happened. He soon stopped flexing his arm and opened one eye. "Anything?"

Isaac sighed. "No."

Connie placed a hand on Steven's shoulder, looking to her right before looking back at Steven. "Here." She jabbed him sharply on the shoulder with one finger.

Steven flinched and moved away from Connie slightly. Still restrained by the pedestal. "Ow! What are you—" Connie grabbed Steven's ear and pulled him towards her. "Hey!" After she let go of him, Steven turned to face her. "What are you doing?"

Connie looked at his side and pointed a finger out. "Maybe if I do... this!" She poked Steven sharply in the side.

This made Steven laugh and bent hunched over the structure. "Wait, I'm ticklish," he begged. Connie just smiled and started poking Steven in the side and on the back repeatedly, causing him to laugh some more. "Wait. Stop. Stop. I'm gonna pee!" He reached his free hand out towards Connie to stop her.

Suddenly, many suits of armor raised out of the ground and form a circle around the platform. Each suit of armor had a different style to them, from different regions of the world, and had a pink square floating above it.

The three looked around at the armor in amazement. "Whoa, look at all this armor!" Connie exclaimed.

Steven looked at Isaac, causing the blonde to look at him. "Press my nose! Press my nose!"

Isaac shrugged and pushed a finger against Steven's nose. "Boop!" This made the pink squares push the suits of armor back into the platform. Then three laser light cannons raised out of the platform. "Are those light cannons," Isaac asked with a look of slight surprise.

"Next!" Connie grabbed the corners of Steven's mouth and pulled them. This made a bunch of axes rise out of the platform.

"Axes!" The two kids exclaimed.

Connie did something else to Steven, and a statue of a woman with her arms outstretched and three sizable flails hanging on each arm raised out of the platform. She had about twelve spikes on each ball with around sixteen chain links.

"Spikey chain balls!"

"Flails," Isaac corrected them.

Then the next to raise up was, to their confusion, a giant penny. No, seriously, it was just a large 1 cent penny.

"A giant penny," Isaac asked with a raised eyebrow.

Connie took her hand off Steven's shoulder and put a finger on her cheek in a thinking manner. "Does that means it's worth more than a regular penny," she asked

"Well, that would make 'cents'." Steven joked with a wide smile. The two kids laughed together, while Isaac looked at them with annoyance. Lion shared that as he lied down on his side.

"This is so great, but..." Connie's exited expression started to change. She began to look sad and worried. "I get the feeling, though, I'm not really supposed to be here."

Isaac nodded and patted her on the shoulder. "I know what you mean. I know that I'm a Gem, but sometimes it feels like...It's like I don't belong here, or anywhere. Not even with the Crystal Gems. You even had that feeling," he asked, looking down at her. "Like you don't belong anywhere?"

"But I want you here, Isaac! I want you _both_ here! I mean, I don't want you _here,"_ Steven said, gesturing around the cave. "I guess Lion wants us here. But _I_ want us to be at the movies! And I want to see lots of explosions."

Connie began to look a bit reassured.

Suddenly, the structure and platform stop glowing. This made the structure to let go of Steven's hand. He stumbled back into Connie, who caught and steadied him. Isaac's gemstone began to glow, making them gasp.

The hand structure sank back into the platform. There was a sudden whirring noise blaring as a wide, glowing white circle appeared on the platform and something new raised out of it. It was a robot that resembled a Polynesian tiki that had three cannons protruding from its cylindrical body and had glowing white eyes. Numerous opaque crystal shards protrude from its top.

The circle disappeared and the robot turns to face the three humans. Isaac stood in front of Steven and Connie, who both gasped as raised triangles begin to rise all over the platform.

Isaac, Steven, and Connie now are facing back to back. "Should we be worried about this," asked the girl.

"Yes!" Isaac summoned his katana. "My gem's glowing!"

"Wait! Look!" Steven said, pointed to where Lion was lying down. The pink lion simply yawned and laid his head down. "Lion doesn't seem to be worried."

"Yeah, but can he detect danger like me?" Isaac replied before the raised triangles began to glow white. The robot began to glow yellow in its various openings and a crackling sound can be heard. The robot from a ball of electricity and fired it at the humans. "Run!"

Isaac, Steven, and Connie scattered in opposite directions, as the electricity ball exploded behind where they were just standing. Isaac hid behind one of the triangles as the robot turned it's lower half and started glowing blue in various places.

As the robot was about to fire at Steven, Isaac ran out of cover and jumped high into the air. With his sword raised high over his head, he brings it down on the robot's right side. However, it didn't make a dent in the machine, and the sword simply batted it away. When it regained balance, the robot fired an ice beam at him, but Isaac ducked behind another triangle.

Isaac looked out from behind the triangle and saw the robot going towards Steven and Connie. "Isaac! What do we do?!" Connie yelled.

The robot moved its lower half again and this time began to glow orange. Steven and Connie looked up at it with looks of intense fear.

"Kids!" Isaac yelled, looking scared for their well being. He ran forward and tackled the two kids out of the way of the robot when it shot fire. When it prepared to fire again, Isaac grunted, grabbed the kids and jumped out of the way. However, he was knocked to the ground.

Steven stood up and helped Connie up, while Isaac got on his knees. The robot appeared again in front of them, preparing to release another fireball. Both kids held hands and closed their eyes, before the young man with them putting himself in front of them, holding them in his arms to shield the kids.

However, Steven formed his protective bubble around himself and the two with him. But when the fireball hit the bubble, the bubble exploded and the force sent Isaac, Steven, and Connie up into the air.

They landed hard onto the ground, surrounded by a ring of fire and groaned in pain. "My bubble," Steven grunted.

"Blamo," Isaac groan on his stomach. The back of his shirt had a giant hole on it, and his back was burnt from the attack.

Steven then gasped as he noticed Lion, who had just walked over. "Lion! Get us out of here! Lion, please!" He pleaded with the lion, who stared at him for a moment.

But Lion lied down on his stomach, allowing Steven to get on top of Lion and help Connie up, while Isaac got in the back with his sword still in hand. When Whirring and crackling noises could be heard, they saw that the robot was aiming another fireball at the group. Lion jumped off of the platform and into the water, bounding around the platform and roaring another portal which he jumped through.

* * *

When they came out the other side of the portal, Lion skidded across the road outside of the movie theater that they've been trying to get to the whole day. The lady working in the ticket booth looked surprised at the very beat-up looking Isaac, Steven, and Connie.

"What?" Steven _looked_ at the theater and threw his arms out in anger. "Now you take us to the movies?!" Lion just closed his eyes and sat down, causing his passengers to fall off of his back.

When he landed on his burnt and the kids landed on him, Isaac yelled out in pain. So the kids quickly got off of him and pulled his arms to help him sit back up. "Are you okay, Isaac," Connie asked worriedly.

"No. Am I healing," Isaac asked and Steven looked at his burnt back. To his relief, it was healing.

"You're all good!" Steven said with a thumbs up. However, when Connie gingerly touched a burn on the side of her face, she hissed in pain. "Connie, here. I have something for that." Acting quickly, Steven took off his cheeseburger backpack and unzips it, pulling out a soda and handing it to Connie. "Sorry. They're not that cold."

Connie accepted the soda and pressed it against her cheek, looking sad but smiled weakly. "Thanks."

As Steven had a soda pressed against his cheek too, Isaac looked at the movie theater and stood. "Well, we're here. Shall we go in?" He offered with a smile.

But unlike Steven, Connie looked down sadly. "That's okay. L-Let's just forget about it," she said.

Isaac glanced at her with a surprised expression. "What? Why?" He asked.

Steven reached a hand towards Connie to comfort her but put his hand down with his an upset expression. "I-I'm sorry!," he said in shame before putting a hand on his head in frustration. "Ugh! I ruined _everything_ , didn't I? I don't know why the two of you hang out with me. I mess stuff up all the time."

While the girl looked at him with surprise, Isaac sighed and said, "Oh, come on. You don't mess up... _all_ the time."

"And I don't know why you hang out with me!" Connie exclaimed. "I'm so much more... less _interesting_ than you two! And _obviously_ you and Isaac have some sort of magical destiny." She stared down sadly and her voice became softer and more depressed. "Why would you even care about something like Dogcopter?"

The young boy was surprised by her statement. "Why?! Because it's Dogcopter!" He exclaimed, thrusting his body forward in excitement. "He's a dog and a helicopter and a cop!"

"What?" Isaac asked.

"He shoots missiles out of his butt, and he's gonna save the world!" Steven yelled, throwing up his hands and getting stars in his eyes, his signature look of excitement. "Dogcopter is very cool and important..." He looked down shyly. "...to me."

The girl looked at him for a moment before averting her eyes in shame. "Well, I'm no Dogcopter."

Suddenly, out of nowhere a fireball hits a car behind Connie and it exploded.

"What the-?" Isaac yelled, before hearing Lion snarl. He turned around and stood beside the giant lion. "Shit!"

The robot had followed them through Lion's portal and had gotten stuck in it. "It's the robot shooty thing!" Steven yelled as the robot began to glow in all different colors. He looked at Isaac for help. "How are we supposed to beat it, Isaac?" He then turned to Lion. "Lion, what do we do?"

Lion's eyes suddenly started glowing white. Then his mane started to glow as he leaned down until his head was near the ground and something stuck out of his forehead. This turned out to be the grip of a sword that had a slightly dark pink with a hint of red pommel resembling a rosebud with a rose quartz embedded in it. The guard and knuckle bow of the sword were pink with the guard having an image of a four-petaled white flower in the middle. The grip was dark pink, and the grip, guard, and knuckle bow were inscribed with a twirling thorn design.

With eyes widened, Isaac grabbed the sword and began to pull it out of Lion's head, as Steven and Connie watch in awe. "Steven...has this ever happened?" He asked unsurely.

"No, this is weird," Steven replied.

When Isaac finally pulled it out, he held it above his head. The sword's cupped hilt and broad blade with its tantō tip were reminiscent of a 17th-century military cutlass. The blade was bright pink and at the base of it, the rain guard was shaped like a pink rose with the two outer petals being dark pink.

"You have a sword in your head?!" Steven asked Lion incredulously. "Why don't you tell me you can do these things you do?!"

The robot began to move again and managed to get through the portal.

"It came through!" Connie yelled

The robot then started to rotate quickly and rapidly firing balls of many different elements all directions. Smashing them into various places. Even the surprised ticket booth lady had to duck down to avoid getting hit by an elemental ball.

The robot continued to fire at things, causing a sign from the movie theater to fall right in front of Isaac, Steven, Connie, and Lion. "You two stay behind me!" The blonde yelled, holding sword out in front of him.

"Watch out!" Connie yelled at him. Isaac held the sword in a tennis-like move that deflected an oncoming electricity ball. Sending it back inside of the robot. When the two kids saw this, they exchanged happy glances. It was just tennis!

the robot fire a fireball at Isaac.

"Forehand!" Connie yelled. Isaac swung the sword from left to right, deflecting the fireball

"Backhand!" Steven yelled, throwing a fist in the air. Isaac to swing the sword right to left, deflecting yet another iceball.

He grinned from the kids before getting ready for the final blow. "Overhead... death strike!" He roared, bringing the sword up and then swung it down. With his immense strength, Isaac sent the fireball launched at him flying right back into the robot.

The impact caused the robot to let out a whirring and clanging sound, before exploding in the air.

Connie and Steven stared at the destruction of the robot menace with awestruck faced. "Just like tennis practice," she whispered.

"Magical destiny practice," Steven then whispered.

Isaac lowered and sword to where it's tip touched the ground. "Maybe tennis doesn't suck."

Meanwhile, the ticket booth lady stood up again and peering out to see if it was safe. With nothing better to do, Isaac, Steven, Connie, and Lion standing in front of the booth. "Hi!" Steven said, looks happy and innocent as a flaming tire rolled by. Isaac was standing next to the two kids holding hands, with the sword that came out of Lion slung on his shoulder. And Lion himself was peaking at the side of the window.

After briefly scanning the fight scene, the lady smiled awkwardly. "Uh, hello."

"Two kids, one adult, and..." Isaac paused to look at Lion, as he is staring into the ticket booth and snorted on the glass, causing it to fog up briefly. "...one lion to see _Dogcopter_."

The ticket booth lady stared at Lion for a moment and then back at Isaac, before leaning in slightly. "Um, do you have a rewards card?"

* * *

"Whoa! Was that in the book?" Steven asked, looking at the screen in amazement with Connie as an explosion went off in the movie. The two kids, Isaac, and even Lion were sitting in the theater and wearing 3D glasses. Steven was eating popcorn and Connie was drinking a soda.

"Eh, they're taking some liberties," Connie said, before turning to Isaac, who had the pink sword that came out Lion's head at his side. "So what are you guys going to with that sword."

"I don't know," said Isaac, who picked up the sword and looked at it. It was an impressive and beautiful weapon, even though pink wasn't his color. "I think we may keep it..."

Suddenly, his sight and mind were assaulted with flashing and quick visions.

"Agh!" Isaac hissed in pain, grabbing his head and shutting his eyes and bending down.

"Isaac! Are you okay?" Steven concerningly asked and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. Isaac took his hand off his head and looked at it for a moment.

He then looked at Steven and smiled. "Sorry. Actually, let's just give the sword back to Lion," he said with a forced smile. Steven and Connie shared a worried glance with each other but continued to enjoy the movie.

Isaac looked down at the sword. Frowning at it while being deep in thought.

They didn't feel like random visions...but memories.

* * *

 **AN: And that's another chapter for you all. It wasn't an epic chapter, but we see Rose's sword, and the effects it had on Isaac.**

 **Thank you very much for reading. "Gem of War" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and also Review it. If you any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please in a Review or a PM me.**

 **Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.**


	13. Act One: Chapter 13

**AN: Before we get started, I just want to say thank you to everyone still Favoriting and Following this story, even after I was away from it for a very long time. With 158** **Favorites and 177 Followers, I looked up OC x Pearl stories, and we're NUMBER ONE!**

 **Thank you all for the support, liking this story, and sticking with it.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 13: Strong in the Real Way**_

After Lion took them to that mysterious cave and then the movies, nothing else really interesting happened afterward. About three days later, a battle with a giant pufferfish monster ended up with Garnet damaging Fish Stew Pizza, leading to the owner Kofi banning the Crystal Gems from the pizzeria. Steven then threw a cookout at the Temple to mend the relationship between the Pizza family and the Crystal Gems. Things didn't go according to plan, and the pufferfish returned. But with the help of the Pizzas, they beat the monster. Isaac then called out the Gems for their dismissiveness toward humans and had them apologize for the damages down.

Then when Steven was getting fed up with things not going his way and desired for some alone-time, he ended up unlocking a new room in the Temple; Rose's room. Isaac wasn't there, but from what Steven told him, the room was able to answer his every wish, but it was artificial and not real. Steven was quick to get out, a hasn't been in the room ever since.

And that brings us to the events of today, as Isaac, Steven, and the Crystal Gems warped to their mission's location. When he opened his eyes, Isaac looked around and saw that they were in the middle of an expansive desert. In front of them stood a giant tower-like structure that contained many huge pillars adorned with triangular patterns.

Steven looked up at the tower in amazement. "Woah! What magical place of mystery is this?"

"Well—" Amethyst was about to try and explain but got interrupted by Pearl, who was particularly excited.

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked! This was once a communication hub for Gem-kind," she told the two hybrids as she walked over to one of its pillars. "But lately, it's begun transmitting bursts of electromagnetic interference!"

Isaac walked next to her and looked up at the top of the town. "So it's sending out EMPs," he asked.

"Whazzat mean?" Steven asked.

"Electromagnetic pulse," Isaac clarified before explaining. "It's a short burst of electromagnetic energy that is capable of disrupting or damaging electronic equipment."

Steven stared at him.

"You didn't understand a thing I just said, did you?" Steven shook his head at Isaac.

Garnet then said bluntly, "It's hurting television."

"Noooooooo!" Steven cried out before turning to a pillar. "I'll save you, television! Ha-yah!" The young boy tried to damage one of the pillars. But failed to any damage to it.

Amethyst stopped him by lifting Steven up and placing him away from the pillar. "Sorry, but we need a Steven at least..." She then shapeshifted into a stronger looking Steven with much more muscles than Isaac thought the boy would ever get. " _THIS_ strong for this job!"

Steven gasped at the sight. "It's all the me I could be!"

Amethyst started attempting to destroy the pillar. Punching it to break it. She was able to crack it but wasn't enough. Pearl caught a small piece of the pillar punched off by Amethyst. "Amethyst, we could be here all day taking out these pillars individually," she scolded the purple Gem.

"Ugh, I _hate_ it when you're right. You get this _look_ on your face..." Amethyst looked at Pearl's face and became annoyed at this rather cute face she was making. "Yeah, that's the one."

"Why don't I give it a try," Isaac said, walking up to the pillar. Pearl and Amethyst stepped back to let the son of Onyx give his try. Looking at the pillar for a moment, Isaac took in a deep breath and exhaled. Concentrating his powers, before clenching his fist and then bringing back. Letting out a battle cry, Isaac swung forward.

A loud crash echoed as Isaac's fist punched into the pillar, creating a crater in the stone before cracks started to spiderweb all over. Seeing that it was coming apart, Isaac and the others ran back to escape the crumbling pieces of debris falling down. Creating a small cloud of dust as it all crashed down.

The other looked at the small level of destruction with impressed expressions. Steven had stars in his eyes before yelling out, "YEAH! THAT WAS AWESOME!"

Isaac blushed a little and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah? Well, it was nothing," he said modestly, before looking at the hand he used to punch the pillar. His gemstone and tattooed one. There was no damage done to it at all. No bleeding, no broken bones, no nothing. "Actually, I didn't think that it would do that much damage."

"Well then, with Isaac here, then this will be easy!" Pearl said in an upbeat tone, walking over to him. She then started to project a hologram from her glowing gemstone. "With your strength Isaac, all we need is a well thought out plan—"

"No." Garnet suddenly interrupted Pearl, much to her and Isaac's surprise, and of everyone else. "What we _need_ is Sugilite," she said, before turning to Amethyst. "Amethyst, fuse with me."

"WHAAAT?!" both Gems exclaimed loudly, and both with different moods. Being the one filled with positive emotions, Amethyst began to scream in excitement and Pearl looked with a mixture of both confusion and anger.

"Yeah! Let's mash it up! Bigger, badder, better! Ohohohohoho!" Amethyst laughed as she enthusiastically twirls around.

Steven looked confused for a while with Isaac sharing the same feeling. But then he figured it out and said excitedly, "Hold your horses! Are... you guys going to become a Gem Fusion?"

Amethyst replied by screaming excitedly. Then both she and Steven scream together in excitement.

"WAIT!" Pearl yelled at them, stopping the excitement. Isaac looked at her a little surprised as there was a moment of pause. Sure he could understand why she didn't want to form Opal, but her reaction was rather unexpected and a little off-putting. "Garnet, think about this. You and Amethyst can be a little...eheh... _unstable_ when your personalities combine."

"How unstable are we talking about?" Isaac asked anxiously.

"Very," she said before looking back up at Garnet. "We need to be careful! Fuse with _me_ , instead."

Garnet placed her hand on Pearl's shoulder. "We don't need to be _careful_. We just need to be _huge_." That didn't reassure the pale Gem nor the blonde hybrid.

"Oh, yeah! Let's wreck this joint!" Amethyst shouted and followed Garnet. The two moved a few meters away from the two half-humans and Pearl and got into position to fuse. While he was anxious about how Sugilite was going to turn out to be, but was interested in seeing how Gems fused.

Last time, he was eaten and didn't see the process.

With their gemstones glowing, Garnet said, "Synchronize." Then she and Amethyst started to dance.

Isaac watched with his arms crossed as he watched. He was a little surprised by the types of dances moves the two were using. Beside him, Pearl blushed and covered Steven's eyes. "Wha-? Whu-? Pearrrl... Come on! I wanna see!" He complained and tried to look through her fingers. But Isaac helped her with covering the boy's eyes too.

"When you're older, kid," he said. There was no denying that the dancing was rather sexual, and he wanted Steven to stay innocent until the appropriate age. "So is this how Gems fuse?"

"That's right," she explained. "Fusion is a connection between two Gems that goes far deeper into each other core. Feelings and emotions are intertwined, along with powers that are harnessed in unison."

Garnet and Amethyst's fusion dance continues, before colliding into each other. Just like back with Pearl and the purple Gem tried to fuse at the Sky Spire, their forms glowed and mixed together into one. But unlike how the two broke apart, the fusion was complete, and the glowing form grew bigger and larger until the glowing went away, and the new Gem being was towering in front of them.

Sugilite was a colossal and menacing-looking fusion with a stocky, bulky build and four arms-each pair seeming to share a shoulder joint. She featured four, medium-lilac eyes located under a strong brow and a fifth one above it. Her mouth was twisted into a grin and filled with sharp, pointed teeth. She had a giant plume of spiky, dark purple-black hair kept in an untamed style similar to Amethyst's, but messier. Her skin color was lavender, like Amethyst's. She appeared to have purple fingernails painted to appear as gemstones themselves, which were located on her chest, and on the palms of the hands of her upper arms.

She had fuchsia skin, wears a ripped, dark purple, black and burgundy bodysuit similar to Garnet's, and a lilac visor covering her lower eyes. She had four arms which are connected at her sleeves. Her bodysuit has tears in it that are similar to Amethyst's.

"Hahahahaha!" Sugilite laughed out loud. Her very form and voice radiated power and strength. Giving off the vibe that she was a juggernaut fusion. "I forgot how GREAT it feels to be me!" She said, cracking her four knuckles.

"Holy shit..." Isaac said, a little intimidated, but something was forcing him to stand his group.

" _That's_ Sugilite?" Steven asked in awe.

"You got it, baby. Hey, Steven. Wanna see something cool?" She asked, bending down to him as she appealed to his wonder.

"Yeah!" Steven yelled.

Sugilite obliged and summoned two of Garnet's gauntlets from her hands. The two gauntlets grabbed each other and fused together with a loop at the bottom. Sugilite then summoned Amethyst's whip and tied the end of it around the loop, forming a giant flail that came crashing down to the ground.

Steven gasped loudly in amazement.

"You like that, little man?"

"Are you gonna smash stuff with your wrecking-ball-thingy," asked the young boy.

"That's the plan! Where should I start?" Sugilite got ready by turning to the pillar.

Isaac quickly waved his hands out to get her to stop. "Wait! Hold on!"

"Do that one!" Steven interrupted his friend and pointed to a pillar. Sugilite proceeded to swing her flail and smashed it and other pillars next to it.

As debris fell near them, Pearl started to pull Steven. "Steven, I think we should go," she said, going for the warp pad.

"No way! This is awesome!" Steven protested, wanting to stay as Sugilite smashed more pillars, causing debris to fall everywhere.

"Do as you're told!" Isaac yelled at him following Pearl. "Sugilite's out of control-"

Pearl then saw a chunk of rock flying towards him and screamed. "Watch it!"

Isaac turned around and saw the rock. Unable to summon his sword, the blonde could only cross his arms in an X and braced himself. He grunted in pain as the rock broke apart and nearly knocked him down, but he was able to get his footing and remained standing. He wasn't harmed, thanks to his powers, receiving however some bruises and cuts on his arms that would heal.

But one of the small, broken off rocks few at Steven and hit him the face. "OW!"

"Steven!" Pearl and Isaac exclaimed in worry.

"AH!" Isaac yelled in pain as he was hit in the back by a much larger boulder that shattered to pieces on impact.

"Isaac!" Pearl screamed worriedly as he fell on the ground. But thankfully he wasn't too hurt and got back up. She then glared at Sugilite. "Ugh, you're just too much!"

"Maybe you're just too LITTLE!" Sugilite replied with a grin.

Pearl and Steven ran over to Isaac and helped him up. "Isaac, are you okay?" The pale Gem asked worriedly. While the rock that hit Steven's face only left a small cut, Pearl didn't know if Isaac's back was broken.

"I'm fine, what about you," Isaac said with a groan of pain as he stood up. But he was more worried for Steven than himself.

"Yeah, I fine."

"Come on, you two! We're going!" Pearl told the young boy and picked Steven up with her left arm. She then stood beside Isaac and supported him. They began walking back to the Warp Pad.

"What? I'm fine! What about Sugilite?" Steven asked, as they stepped on the pad.

"She can find her own way home!" Pearl said angrily, already upset with how the two humans were hurt by Sugilite's reckless actions.

"Awww..." Steven moaned dejectedly at not being able to see the destruction play out.

As he was still hanging onto Pearl's shoulder, Isaac noticed a shadow growing over him and the others. He looked up and the blonde's eyes widened when he saw a giant boulder heading right from them. "Holy shit!"

He tackled Pearl and Steven onto the pad, planning to use his body to shield them. But Isaac accidentally activated it and teleported them out of there. Right be the boulder crushed the pad.

* * *

When the house's warp pad activated, Steven yelled as he was sent flying out of the portal when they made it back to the temple. He got up and looked to Isaac and Pearl. "That was so awesome! Isaac! Pearl! Was that..." The young boy stopped when he saw the way they were.

Isaac groaned in pain after landing back-first on the hard crystal surface, shooting pain up his spine. Pearl shook her head to clear it up and come to her senses from the sudden teleportation. When she looked down, Pearl saw what she landed on and her eyes widened.

Isaac's pain lessened when he looked up and he too was shocked.

Pearl was laying on top of Isaac and he was holding her tightly in his arms.

"Uh...sorry?" Isaac said awkwardly. He released her and Pearl quickly stood, getting off him. Isaac tried standing, only to yell out in pain.

"Isaac? Are you okay?!" Pearl worriedly, kneeling down next to him. Looking fearful for her friend. "Let me see your back." Isaac nodded and rolled on his stomach. Pearl lifted up his shirt and gasped in horror. This made Steven rush over to see. However, that look of horror turned to wonder.

"How bad is it?" Isaac asked from his position. At first, his back didn't look good with an ugly purple spot on his back. But amazing it, that very same spot receded. Going smaller until it was completely gone from his back.

"It-It's gone," Pearl said in total amazement, placing her hands on Isaac's back and pressed against it while rubbing him. This brought out an unintentional groan from Isaac's mouth, making the Gem quickly take her hands away. "Oh goodness! Did I hurt you?"

Realize what he did, Isaac blushed red on his cheek and looked away. "N-No, its just...your hands..."

"My hands?" Pearl asked, looking at her hands. Were her hands filthy? Was she causing some kind of discomfort?

Isaac shook his head and sat up. "No, it's..." He looked away, trying to avoid eye contact. "It felt good."

Pearl looked at him with a confused expression. Touching a human's back felt good to them. But then she realized that she had basic massaged his back and it added to the blush that had built up when he held her in his arms. She quickly stood up, while Isaac looked down at the warp pad and placed his hand on it.

He tried to activate it, but it didn't turn on. "Well, it looks like we're not going back there," he said.

"Hey Pearl, where are you going?" asked Steven, making Isaac look back up. Pearl was walking quickly to the door, before opening it and closing it after stepping out. Steven looked at Isaac. The blonde rubbed the back of his head, hoping that things wouldn't be awkward after this.

And, hopefully, Sugilite can get home on her own.

* * *

3 days later, and Isaac was walking over to the Big Donut for a cup of coffee and some donuts to take back for Steven. It's been a while since he's gone to get a cup of coffee from the place and just talked with Sadie and Lars. The latter of which he could do without. When he entered the shop, Isaac approached the counter where Sadie was. Passing by Lars who was on one of his random lunch breaks.

"Hey Sadie," Isaac said.

Sadie turned around after stocking some items. "Oh! Hey, Isaac-!" She stopped and screamed, startling Isaac and Lars, who was leaning back in his chair and fell over.

"What?!" Isaac exclaimed, thinking that something was wrong.

"Isaac, what happened to your eye?!" Sadie shouted, pointing at his face. "Did you get hurt or something?"

Lars walked over and looked at his face. Only to laugh at him. "Whoa, nice tattoo, Isaac," he said mockingly. Earning him some berating from Sadie for making fun of him while he could be hurt.

Wondering what they were talking about, Isaac realized that it was his crack scar mark on the right side of his face. "Oh, this," he asked, touching the mark. "This just showed up one day after I used my power. Apparently it's my mother's scar."

"You're mom's scar? What is this, like you and her being the same person now," Lar asked with his usual mocking voice.

Isaac was about to retort when he heard the shop door open. Wondering who it was, he turned back to see who it was. He instantly knew it was Steven. "Hey, Steven...oh, for the love of..." He groaned. Upon seeing him, Isaac saw Steven wearing a pair of sunglasses and a big roll of gauze wrapped around his head.

"'Sup?" Steven said, trying to act tough.

While Isaac looked deadpan at the young boy, and Lars wasn't too interested, Sadie looked genuinely worried for the young boy and ran up to him. "Whoa! Steven, what happened to you?"

"Oh, just a little battle damage from our last mission," Steven replied nonchalantly as he leaned on a table, taking off his sunglasses and putting them on his tank top.

"You got on the head by a rock," Isaac deadpanned.

"Yeah, but check out this awesome scar I got!" Steven lifted up the gauze that was applied on by Pearl, revealing a tiny cut on his forehead.

Seeing it, Isaac sighed, face palmed, and shook his head. Why didn't Pearl listen to him when he told her it wasn't anything to worry about? Meanwhile, both Sadie and Lars burst out laughing at how amusingly underwhelming Steven's "battle damage" really was. Steven frown in confusion, not getting why they all through it was so funny.

"It must not have been a very big rock," Sadie said, still chuckling good-naturedly.

Steven covered up the cut in embarrassment. "Well... there's... internal... bleeding," "Steve said, defensively. "My hurt is on the inside!"

"Oh please! You got hit on the head with a rock the size of a fist and I hit in the back by a _boulder_ the size of a _car_!" Isaac said, taking a sip of his coffee. "But then again I can heal quickly. If you're complaining about a little cut, then it's time for you to toughen up, Steven."

"You're right," Steven said with a disheartening sigh as he took off the gauze and sat at the table. "I'm soft."

"If I weren't so modest, I'd whip out my sweet six-pack and..." Lars said smugly, but when he tried to open a can of sardines, he struggled to get it unscrewed. "And show you what... a real man... looks like!..." He grunted as he tried to turn to top off, but failed miserably. Sadie offered to do it was a knowing expression. Annoyed, Lars passed the can to her, and the blonde coworker was able to open it with ease before returning it to the skinny teenager. "Nah... I'm not gonna say thanks," he grumbled, getting a punch in the leg by her.

"That's it! We all need a workout! Let's do it! Let's workout together!" Steven exclaimed, with stars in his eyes. Isaac really had to ask how a person was able to do that. He watched the enthusiastic boy pointed to Sadie. "You can beat up Lars!" He turned to Lars. "And you don't have to starve to death if Sadie divorces you!"

"We're not married!" Lars snapped.

"Could've fooled me," Isaac said, smirking. "The two of you argue like a married couple."

"And Isaac, you can buff up and be strong like Sugilite!" Steven exclaimed excitedly. Isaac raised an eyebrow and looked down at his body. He was already athletically built. Not built like a bodybuilder, but was more like a swimmer that still made his t-shirt stretch a little. But it was also clear to anyone that knew what was going on that the impressionable boy was inspired to be like Sugilite. "And I know just the guy to help us out."

* * *

About an hour later, both hybrids and humans walked to the Beach House. Steven, Lars, and Sadie were in comfortable workout clothes. When they arrived at the beach in front of the house, they found Greg fast asleep on a workbench. All around them was makeshift gym made out of everything that he could find and use that was already his or in the dumpster. And it still wasn't a lot.

"Wow! This looks great!" Steven said, however, still optimistic. Greg was awakened by the sound of his son's voice and got up. A piece of 2x4 stuck to the side of his face before falling off. "Hey, dad!"

"Hey, Steven. You like it?" He asked as his son and Isaac approached him.

Isaac looked around with a raised eyebrow. "I'm surprised that you actually pulled it off," he said looking at the track that was made. "Barely."

"Yeah, well it's the best I can do on such short notice," Greg said.

When Lars and Sadie walked over to join them, Lars picked up a dumbbell made of cans tied by strings to a wooden handle. The thing quickly fell apart within a second being off the ground. "No kidding," he said.

"Well, I might join you kids show you how it's done! I've been slacking off on my workout routine for a few weeks...months...years..." The other looked at him with raised eyebrows, making Greg cough in his hand. "Decades."

"Well, while you join your son and try and fix your body, I've already got in my workout a little bit ago," Isaac said, walking back to the house. Intending to do some laundry that he's been neglecting to do for some time. But he wasn't looking at where he was going and accidentally bumped into Pearl. "Oh, sorry, Pearl! Didn't see you there."

"No, it's okay. No harm done," she said with a slight smile. Blushing a bit.

"We'll need sweatbands!" Steven yelled, running past the older hybrid and white Gem, going up to the Beach House. Isaac sighed as Steven was still wanting to be strong only in the body.

Greg picked up a real dumbbell and looked to Pearl. "Hey Pearl. Come to check out some buff studs?" He asked and Isaac couldn't help but look back at him.

Pearl raised an eyebrow as she looked Greg over. "... No," she said simply. Isaac held in his laughter as he followed her, walking up to Steven's house where the young boy was grabbing several sweatbands. "Steven, what on earth are you up to?"

"They're starting a gym in order to get in shape and stronger," Isaac said, leaning on the railing of the porch.

"Yeah!" Steven said, flexing. "Imma get supa strong! Like Sugilite!"

The moment she heard that name, Pearl's happy expression and smiled was gone, flinching a bit upon hearing the reckless fusion's name. Disheartened at the mention of Sugilite. Something that Isaac couldn't help but notice. "You know, maybe this isn't a good idea," she told him.

"What? I wanna be strong so I can be useful to the team!" Steven tried to reason.

Isaac could admire his reason for getting stronger, he knew that the boy was going about it all wrong and might not work as much. "Pearl's right, Steven. There are different ways of being strong," he said, trying to reason with him. "Strength isn't always in the muscles."

"But you have super strength! I want to take strong too. want to be strong in the real way. Come on, guys." Steven stubbornly stuck to his way of things and puts on a sweatband. "Let's get beefy!"

Pearl pouted as she blushed angrily. "I'd rather not," she said, entering the house. Pearl sighed as she closes the door behind and leaned against it. She then noticed that Steven's clothes were all over the floor. "Steven..." She grumbled, but relaxed and started singing to herself.

 _"Why do you have to look up to her_

 _Aside from in a literal sense?_

 _Don't you know that a power that big_

 _Comes with a bigger expense?"_

Isaac and Steven looked inside as she sang and picked up the boy's clothes. Folding neatly. But when picked up a pair of sunglasses, she was reminded of Sugilite and dropped them.

 _And can't you see that she's out of control_

 _And overzealous?_

She sees everyone working out through the windows. Steven ducked to the ground, but Isaac didn't. He looked over his shoulder at the others as they were exercising. Pearl stared at the humans before her eyes trailed over to Onyx's son.

 _I'm telling you for your own good,_

 _And not because I'm-_

She quickly cut herself before saying "jealous," but knew it was true. Pearl walked over to the window and pulled down the blinds in disapproval.

 _I can show you how to be strong..._

 _In the real way._

 _And I know that we can be strong_

 _In the real way._

 _And I want to inspire you_

 _I want to be your rock_

 _And when I talk_

 _It lights a fire in you_

Isaac looked back inside to see Pearl give small respite walked to the door. He looked at were Steven was, but didn't see him there. Back on the beach, determined, Steven turned up the volume of his stereo and yelled into his megaphone at the gym.

"Who's ready to get buff?" Isaac looked back at the beach to see him with the others. "I don't wanna see your gut, I wanna see your guts!" Steven turned back to Pearl as she looking at them from the porch. The two shared eye contact, but she quickly looked away and was about to walk back into the house when Isaac stopped her.

"You want me to talk to him?" he asked, but Pearl glanced at him with a slight like of contempt.

"No," she said coldly and walked back into the house. Steven then continued singing his own version of the while instructing and inspiring everyone with the workout.

 _"I can show you how to be strong..._

 _In the real way_

 _And I know that we can be strong"_

Now the two were singing the same song, but Isaac paid attention to Pearl's voice.

 _And I want to inspire you_

 _I want to be your rock_

 _And when I talk_

 _It lights a fire in you_

 _I want to inspire you_

 _I want to be your rock_

 _And when I talk_

 _It lights a fire in you_

 _In the real way_

Isaac stared at Pearl in amazement. He's heard all the gems sing once or twice since living with them, but Pearl was by far sang the most beautifully. Her voice was wonderful, her delivery of the lyrics was flawless.

"Hey, Steven." Isaac turned back to the beach when he heard Sadie. Everyone had collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. Sweating profusely. "Maybe um... you can work out a bit, too?

"Uh-huh? I have been," Steven said, confused

"We've been working out," Lars said, collapsing on the ground after doing push-ups. "You've just been singing some dumb song."

"But you're doing a great job pumping us up!" Greg said after taking a moment to catch his breath.

"And what about him?!" Lars pointed and gestured to Isaac, who was watching them. "All he's doing watching us sweat our motherfucking balls off!"

"You're right," Steven said, before turning to Isaac and held up his megaphone at him. "Hey! Come on, Isaac! C'mon and join us! I already have something for you to pump!" He pointed to a bench press set with the bar already having a few weights attached to it.

Isaac didn't like the idea of feeding the boy's obsession, especially when it was after witnessing Sugilite wreck the communication hub reckless. However, he knew Steven wasn't going to let go until Isaac did it. He looked to the other humans and they stared at him with anticipation.

Shrugging with a head shake, he walked down to the beach. Behind him, Isaac heard the door open and he looked back to see Pearl looking at him with wide eyes. Watching the blonde hybrid. Steven was about to yell into the microphone again, before Isaac snatched it from his hands and threw it over his shoulder. Not wanting to have Rose's son yell in his ears when he does this.

Laying down on the backrest, Isaac looked up at the bar as Greg rushed over to spot him. He didn't even know how strong he was. All he knew was that he was strong enough to break one of those pillars. Everyone watched with bated breaths as Isaac grabbed onto the handlebar and lifted it off the rack.

Immediately, Isaac felt the weight of the barbell and it almost came down hard on him. The sound of the iron bending rang in his ears told him that it was going to break his arms. But it didn't. Isaac pushed up, and it suddenly started to become manageable. Even easier for him to lift the bar onto the rack.

He quickly sat up as Greg handed him some water. "Are you okay?" he asked the blonde as he gulped down the water.

Isaac stopped drinking and looked at Steven. "Steven, how much did you put on?"

"250 pounds!" The boy said with a big grin.

"What!?" Sadie exclaimed.

"Steven, that's too much!" Greg scolded Steven, who looked confused as to why they were all upset. "You could've seriously hurt him!"

"But I wanted to see how much he could lift," Steven said to reason with them. "But I didn't know how much he could."

Isaac wanted to be mad at him, but he couldn't help but look at the barbell in amazement. "Well, I can say that's the most I've ever tried to lift," he said, before giving Steven a stern look. "But that seriously could've been dangerous."

"But this was what you wanted, right?" Steven asked.

"I do want to be stronger, Steven."

"Supa strong, like-"

"Like Sugilite?" Isaac interrupted, looking at the boy disapprovingly. The boy looked at little startled and meekly nodded. This made Isaac sigh.

Greg was silent for a moment. "I can take some off," he said, about to pull off some of the weights on the bar.

That's when an idea entered Isaac's head. "Actually," he started, turning to look at some of the other weights lying on the ground. "Let's keep going."

Greg, Lars, and Sadie looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you crazy, man? You looked like you were going to crushed," said the skinny young man.

"I've got super strength, but I want to know my limits," Isaac said, looking at the bar. I want to knew how strong I really am."

A moment later, Greg added 20 lbs. Making the bar weigh 270 in total. Isaac laid back and grabbed the handlebar. He pushed it off the rack, letting the weight come down before stopping it when his arms were at a 90-degree angle. Just like before, he felt like it the peak of his strength and was going to crush him, but when he started to push up, that weight seemed to decrease. Isaac was surpassing what he would consider being his human limitations. It was as if he was no longer able to break his bones or tear his muscles the more he believed that he could do it. And so he continued having Greg add more, making everyone increasingly nervous by how much Isaac was going to push himself. But again and again, Isaac pushed the bar up and was able to keep pushing it up. After ten presses, he added more, until there were no more weights to add on. Steven then excitedly took the paint cans used as dumbbells and hooked them onto the end of the bar. Isaac again pushed against what he considered to be his limits and pressed ten times before resting the bar on the rack.

He looked back at the bar with eyes filled with amazement. That was easily 350 lbs! Far past what he believed to have been possible for him to do in the past. Just like when he was hit with a rock, Isaac's back didn't break like his arm and was able to heal quicker too. It was as if his powers were increasing. Ever since he awakened Hellfire.

That made him think for a moment. His powers started slightly changing ever since he summoned his flames and his mother's scar appeared on his face. Could there be a connection?

"That...was...awesome!" shouted Steven. Isaac looked back to see the three humans staring at him with wide eyes. Even from the house, Pearl stared at him with a look of amazement.

Isaac nodded his head. It was kind of awesome. He then stood up from the bench press and looked at the boy. "Don't ever do anything like what I just did, Steven," he said standing up and walked over to Steven.

"Thanks, but I need to get strong, too," Steven said, still determined. He then picked up 2 car tires and covered his lower torso with them. And then picked up 2 more and held them over his head. "I'm switching to four-wheel drive!" He dropped the tires down on him, completely covering his body. Steven then began running laps, breathing hard.

Seeing that the boy wasn't going to stop with his obsession, Isaac turned and made his way back up the hill to the beach house. Passing by Pearl, who he gave a nod and walked into the house. Walking over to the refrigerator to grab a bit to eat, he was interrupted when the door slammed shut.

"What was that?!" Pearl shouted. Isaac turned back and saw her marching towards him with a furious look on her face.

"What? It was only way to get Steven my back," Isaac said, sitting on one of the stools of the kitchen counters.

"By doing what you did? You could've killed yourself, or at the very least hurt yourself!" She shouted angrily.

"I wanted to test my own abilities. Ever since I used Hellfire, my powers have been changing and I need to know what I'm capable of," he explained.

"So what? You decided to show off how much more powerful you are?" Pearl asked with bitterness and jealously spilling from her voice. This surprised Isaac, as she's never been this hostile before. Not even with Amethyst when they were fighting. "You say that strength isn't just in the muscles but then you go and prove how strong you really are to Steven! How do you think that's going affect him? You know how impressionable he is! You and Sugilite-"

"Sugilite?"

There was a pause in the room. Both now glaring at one another. "You know what I mean."

"No, I don't! What does that have to do with me doing bench presses and Steven wanting to be stronger? Seriously? what the hell's up with you lately? Without Garnet and Amethyst, we're down half a team, and ever since they formed Sugilite-"

"Don't you _dare_ speak her name!" Pearl angrily cut him off.

"Why?!"

"UGH! YOU'RE JUST TOO MUCH! JUST LIKE _HER_!" Pearl gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth in shock and horror by what she said. There was silence in the room again as Isaac looked surprised at her. His expression switching from anger to emotional hurt when he heard her. Isaac stared at her for a moment, before his expression turned to a mix of sadness and disappointment. Slowly, he took a deep breath to control his emotions and calm himself before he said something he'd regret.

"Fine."

"Isaac..." Pearl tried to speak.

"I'm sorry if I was a bother to you," Isaac said bitterly, before walking over to the door.

"Isaac, wait a minute." Pearl grabbed his arm to stop him, but Isaac yanked away from her. Turning back to glare at her as she stared at him with eyes widened, filled with shame and guilt, and looking like they were going to tear up.

"I don't know what's gotten into, Pearl, but let's get something straight; I don't give a damn about Sugilite. I do, however, have and always will care about you," Isaac said, surprising her a little. "But you better figure out the difference between your enemies, and your friends."

With that, Isaac walked away and slammed the door closed behind him. Leaving Pearl all alone in the house. Overwhelmed with guilt and shame, she sat down on the couch when her legs felt weak, holding her mouth. Why did she have to say that? Why did she have to drive him away because of her own insecurity? It was true that she was concerned for his safety when he was bench pressing, but the more he lifted, the more she started to see just how much stronger he was. So much so that all her frustration built up from Sugilite and Steven wanting to get stronger led to her need to take it out on something. But shouldn't have been Isaac, who's been nothing but a good man.

She looked up at the painting of when the Crystal Gems and Onyx sailed the seas. He really was just like her, _his mother_ , in so many ways.

* * *

The next day, the sun raised in the morning, and Isaac sat up on his air mattress. His eyes had dark spots under her eyes from his lack of sleep. He had walked around Beach City to clear his head, but it didn't help. Still upset with what happened yesterday. When he returned back to the house around midnight, Steven was laying on his bed and Pearl was nowhere in the house. Having retired to the temple.

He broke down the bed and stored it away. "Steven, come on! We're ready to get started! We can't work out without your mad coaching skills!" Sadie's loud voice called out from the beach. Isaac walked to the window and saw her, Lars, and Greg waiting for the young boy.

Isaac walked up to the second floor and said, "Steven, you're workout friends are here."

Steven groaned in pain. "Be there in a sec!" He said to the people outside." He struggled to get off of the bed. Knowing that the boy had overworked himself, Isaac rolled his eyes and helped the boy get up. Together, they walked down the stairs. "So sore from getting ripped..."

"That's what it takes to get stronger," Isaac told him, reaching for the door.

"I don't understand." Pearl's voice said from the entrance of the temple. Isaac and Steven looked to see her standing in front of the warp pad before turning around to the boys. "Amethyst and Garnet still aren't back yet. I tried to warp back and check on them, but the warp pad's down!"

Suddenly the ground started to shake, and Greg, Lars, and Sadie's voices could be heard panicking outside. Exclaiming about something they were seeing. The house started to rumble and crumbles fell from the ceiling. Confused, the trio quickly exited the house, with Steven stumbling out. On the balcony, they watched in fear as they saw Sugilite in the distance, marching towards them in the ocean.

"What the fuck is that?!" Greg yelled as Lars fell off from the makeshift monkey bars.

"GUYS, RUN!" Isaac yelled at the humans on the beach.

Sugilite arrived at the beach and everyone did as Isaac told. Running away in fear as the fusion let out an infuriated roar that rattled the surrounding area. "I'M BORED!" She roared bitterly.

"It's Sugilite!" Steven cheered. Isaac saw Pearl running past him down to the beach. He looked at his gemstone and saw it glowing, so he rushed out towards the two.

"Y-you're back!" Pearl said nervously, approaching the giant fusion.

"YOU LEFT ME BEHIND!" Sugilite accused, pointing at Pearl.

"We just thought you didn't need any help. Now, why don't you separate, and we can all sit down and relax?" Pearl suggested, trying to have the fusion settle down.

"NO! Sugilite suddenly kicked Pearl away.

"Pearl!" Isaac yelled, catching her in his arms. Knocking them both to the ground.

"Listen to me!" Pearl exclaimed, glaring up at Sugilite as Isaac helped her up. "You've been fused for too long! You're losing yourselves!"

"I _AM_ MYSELF! AND I'M SICK OF BEING SPLIT UP!" Sugilite proclaimed. "SO YOU BETTER GET USED TO IT, BABY. AND GET THIS JUNK OFF MY BEACH! She then started stepping on the makeshift gym. Destroying the handmade equipment.

Steven struggled over to Pearl and Isaac. "Why is she wrecking Dad's gym?" He exclaimed, sharing the two's panic. "Why is she attacking you?!"

With no time to explain or argue, Pearl lifted Steven up and tosses him away. "Steven, get out of here!" She yelled a he fell down a nearby ditch. She then summoned her spear and got into a fighting stance. "Isaac, go with Steven!"

"Are you nuts!? I'm not going to just leave you to fight her alone!" Isaac exclaimed incredulously.

"I'm not asking!" Pearl gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on her spear. "I'm ordering you to..."

"And I'm not going anywhere!" Isaac replied, summoning two of his swords.

"WHAT? YOU WANNA FIGHT?!" Sugilite glared down at the two.

"You'll thank me... LATER!" Pearl yelled and leaped towards Sugilite, but she was quickly swatted away by one of the fusion's large hands. Isaac gasped as she was sent crashing to the ground, before his blood started to boil.

With a battle cry, he rushed at Sugilite. The fusion looked to the young man and grinned, swinging her flail at him. But Isaac jumped forward, dodging the weapon. He then rushed to her right leg, and put his swords together. Shapeshifting them into a single, large cleaver that he swung around, before swinging into Sugilite's leg. Cutting halfway into it.

Sugilite screamed in pain as the weapon disappeared. Making her kneel down to grab her wounded leg. Giving Isaac the chance to jump up and punch her square in her visor, shattering it into a dozen pieces and knocking it off her face. He was swatted away by her fist as Sugilite grabbed her face. The fusion glared at Isaac as he landed next to Pearl, revealing her fierce and angry five eyes.

"Isaac, stay out of this!" Pearl snapped, standing back up again.

"Pearl, we've got to work together! It's the only way to beat her!" Isaac exclaimed, trying to reason with her.

"NO! I can do this!" Not thinking straight, Pearl rushed a Sugilite and jumped at her.

"Pearl! Stop!"

"YOU THINK YOU'RE SOMETHING?" Sugilite roared fiercely, catching Pearl by surprise and her attack fell apart. "YOU!" The fusion headbutted Pearl to the ground. Pearl landed on her feet, but Sugilite threw her fist up, slamming into the white Gem and sending her flying up into the air. "AIN'T!" Pearl couldn't do anything when the purple fusion jumped up and smacked her into the ground from the sky. _"NOTHING!"_

Pearl nearly fell unconscious when she hit the ground, though thankfully her gemstone was undamaged. But she was however heavily injured, adding to her despair as she glanced up to see Sugilite land and send her flail at her.

Time slowed down as Pearl was suddenly pushed aside by Isaac. Her body turned in midair to see it was him that did and her eyes widened in shock and horror.

Simultaneously, Pearl landed on the sandy beach as the young man took the full force of Sugilite's weapon. The head of the weapon crashed into the side of the moutain, damaging Steven's house.

Pearl could only stare in horror at the weapon, which was stuck deep in the rocky structure. "ISAAC!" She screamed out, believing him to be dead.

She attempted to stand up, to head over to him, but in her weakened state, she kneels in pain. Steven, Greg, Sadie, and Lars stared at the hopeless situation with fearful worry. Shame overfilled her as bowed her head, tears falling as she started to cry, knowing that she'd lost.

"I...I can't do this." The white Gem muttered mournfully as Sugilite approached her. "I'm sorry... Steven, Garnet, Amethyst..." Pearl looked over at Sugilite's flail that still has Isaac's likely mangled corpse behind it. More tears streamed down her face as she tightly grabbed the ground. "Isaac..." she choked out, realizing that she was never going to see his handsome face again. To tell him how sorry she was. "I so sorry...I wasn't strong enough, to protect you. I was _never_ strong enough to do anything..."

Sugilite stood over Pearl and raised her foot over her to crush the white Gem. "BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME-"

 _WAHBAM!_

Sugilite was suddenly slammed in the face by her own flail, Pearl looked up and was shocked to see it was Isaac that was hanging onto the ring of the fist part of the weapon. Having been fueled by adrenaline and with his body letting off some steam, he launched himself and the flail out of the mountainside like a rocket.

His clothing was ripped in several places, his body was littered with bruises, and there was a trail of blood leaking out of his mouth and face. But despite his injuries, he wore a grin on his face as he yelled, "Three points, ya dirty whore!"

Isaac then planted his feet on the bottom of the flail and pushed it further against Sugilite's face, sending her stumbling back until she fell back into the water.

He landed on the ground in front of Pearl and turned to her. She looked up at him in amazement as Isaac walked over to her and crouched down in front of the Gem. "Come on, Pearl. Don't give up. I know we can take her down together.

"I can't..." Pearl replied dejectedly, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"You may think that you're weak, Pearl, but you're far from it," Isaac argued, looking at her with a fierce passion in his eyes. He then did something he never through he'd ever do: sing. _"_ _I can show you how to be strong..._ _In the real way._ _"_ Pearl stared at him in shock as he stood up, smiling down at her as the wind blew in his hair. The blonde then offered her a hand. _"_ _And I know that we can be strong..._ _In the real way."_

"You can do it, Pearl!" Steven yelled. They both turned to see the boy lying on the ground using the megaphone. "Come on! You always know what to do! You gotta show her what you showed me! That you're strong, Pearl! Strong in the REAL WAY!"

This along with Isaac's singing stir Pearl's heart with determination. She turned back to Isaac, and smiled with her newfound confidence. _"And I want to inspire you..."_ Pearl sang, grabbing Isaac's hand. _"_ _I want to be your rock..."_ On shaking legs, Pearl slowly pulled herself back on her feet with Isaac's help. The two of them looked at one another. _"And when I talk"_ The two stared at one another with smiled and blushed. _"It lights a fire in you..."_

Together, they turned and faced Sugilite as she matched onto the beach again. She glared at the two and appalled that Isaac was still alive. "WHAT? YOU WANT SOME MORE?!"

"Anytime!" Pearl proclaimed, standing beside Isaac.

"You're no match for us! Not even close!" Isaac proclaimed with a cocky grin. With a battle cry, the blonde threw his sword up at Sugilite, stabbing into one of her five eyes. Sugilite screamed in agony, covering her face with one hand and punched towards the two. However, Isaac and Pearl were read and dodged the attack by leaping out of the way. "Head for the cliff!"

The two landed on the ground and ran away towards the cliff as Sugilite chased after them, ignoring the katana deep in her top eye. Isaac and Pearl ran up the cliff the temple resided against, all the while Steven cheered them on.

"GET BACK HERE!" Sugilite shouted, gaining on them as her fury burned red hot. When Isaac and Pearl reached the edge of the cliff, they turned around to face Sugilite as she smirked down on the duo. Laughing triumphantly. "NICE TRY. IS THAT ALL YOU GOT? YOU THINK THAT RUNNING AWAY IS ENOUGH TO BEAT ME?!" Sugilite startED swinging her flail.

"You talk too much," Isaac said. He jumped at Sugilite's face before she had a chance to react and delivered a powerful punch to her face. Knocking some of her teeth out. He then grabbed onto her hair and pulled himself on top of her head, all while the fusion was trying to maintain her balance. Isaac ruined this by punch the side of her head, knocking her off balance and down on one knee. He then reached down and grabbed the handle of his mother's katana and forcefully pull it and Sugilite's head up. Making her stand up and stumble around as she was about to crush him with her hands. "NOW PEARL!"

Knowing what Isaac had planned, Pearl then jumped off the cliff, soaring high into the air. In midair, she turned her body around and hurled her spear at the ground underneath Sugilite, which just so happened to be the edge of the cliff. Causing her to lose her footing, and sending her fall off the cliff to the ground.

In midair, as she screamed in panic, Isaac yanked his katana out of Sugilite's eye and jumped onto the fusion's weapon. He stabbed into the weapon and when Sugilite landed first on her back, the hybrid let out a primal battle cry as he brought the flail down with him.

Sugilite's face filled with shock and horror, before Isaac landed on the ground with a yell, bringing the fusion's own flail down on her face. The brutal attack caused massive damage in a single strike that she fell apart instantly, separating her back into Garnet and Amethyst in a poof of purple cloud.

Isaac stayed still in a kneeling position, with his sword in hand, near Garnet and Ameythst's semi-paralyzed and incapacitated bodies lying in the sand. Then the katana disappeared and the Onyx gemstone returned to normal. Isaac stood up and looked at the two, before sighing in relief seeing the aggressive fusion gone.

"Amethyst! Garnet!" Pearl exclaimed with concern as she raced over to her fallen comrades. Joining the bloodied and battered Isaac with his wounds all healed, who was now panting out of exhaustion. "Are you OK!?"

"Yeah..." Garnet moaned weakly, exhausted. "Sugilite just overworked our bodies. It's... a little painful."

"I've got a monster headache," Amethyst muttered, as her body was too weak to even move.

Disregarding their pain, Pearl pulled Garnet and Amethyst for a tearful hug. Garnet and Amethyst groan in pain, with the sound of their bones cracking could be heard. This quickly caused Pearl to release them. "Oh, whoops," the white Gem said with a sheepish laugh.

Isaac chuckled for a moment, before falling on his back with a sigh. Making him grunt in pain as his body was still very sore from taking the hit for Pearl. This attracted the attention of Pearl and she moved over to him. "Isaac, are you okay?" she asked worriedly as Greg ran over, carrying Steven under his arm. Lars and Sadie joined.

"I'm fine. I'm just going to rest for a moment," he said to try and ease her mind.

However, Pearl's worried expression turned to a look of shame as she gently laid a hand on his chest. Left of his shirt's logo. "Isaac...I'm sorry...for everything. I was just so..." she trailed when Isaac placed a hand on her's.

"Pearl, it's okay. Really. I'm happy to see you show just how strong you really are," Isaac said with a smile.

"Yeah, Pearl!" Steven exclaimed, catching Pearl's attention. "You were amazing

Pearl looked at the boy in confusion. "But I don't understand," she said, turning back to Isaac. "You were the one that defeated Sugilite," she said.

"But you showed just how stronger you really are, in _here_." Isaac lifted up his hand and pointed to her heart.

Pearl stared into his eyes as the blonde gave her a smile, showing he really wasn't disappointed in her in any way. Pearl smiled with a blush and grabbed his hand pointing to her heart with both hands and tightly held them. "Thank you, Isaac," she said. "And thank you, Steven. You make a good coach."

"Pearl," Garnet said, catching the white Gem, the two hybrids, and Greg's attention. "We want you to know that we're sorry." The leader turned to Isaac. "You too, Isaac. We should've listened to Pearl...she were right."

"Yeah," Pearl said, standing up over the teammates laying on the ground. Feeling emboldened by her leader's words. "I was right."

Feeling proud for her, Steven pulled out the megaphone and cheered, "Go, Pearl!"

"Come on! I feel GREAT!" Pearl declared spiritedly to her injured teammates. "Who's up for a MISSION? OR..."

As Pearl continued shouting her cheerful filibustering rant, Amethyst tiredly sighed. "How long is she going to keep this up?" she asked, having no energy to do anything to stop her.

"We deserve it. Take it like a Gem," Garnet said, knowing that neither she nor Ameythst had the right to stop her and it was fair payback. Especially after Sugilite showed no mercy on Pearl and nearly killed Isaac.

"Uh... What the heck just happened?!" Lars exclaimed, still standing with Sadie in the background.

"Another day in our lives, Lars," Isaac said. Then he turned serious for a moment and looked at Garnet and Amethyst. "Seriously, though, we're never calling on Sugilite again."

"Noted," Garnet grunted.

"DROP AND GIVE ME 20!" Steven shouted through the megaphone.

* * *

 **AN: After a VERY long absence from this story, I'm finally back to working on it. First, I'd just like to say that I'm really sorry for not updating this story sooner, I got caught up in other stories and my personal life. A part of it was also procrastination, as like I said, the first part of season 1 wasn't the most exciting and didn't pick up until the second half.** **However, we're** **coming back strong with this retelling of "Coach Steven!"**

 **One of the big things about this chapter is that Isaac's powers are growing stronger than before. You know how when you reach a certain age, your body is supposed to stop growing? When, it's kind of the opposite with Isaac e** **ver since Hellfire was first used. Now his abilities are growing. His body is starting to display signs of invulnerability with his back not breaking and a faster healing factor that now heals him faster than it did before. And then there's his super strength. For all you movie-buffs reading the story, then you've likely seen how similar the bench pressing scene is similar to the one in _Unbreakable_ , and there's a good reason. Like the main character's David Dunn's super strength, Isaac's** **strength is now more of an act of conscious will than actual physical strength; the more he believes in his strength, the stronger he becomes. As long as he can ignore the pain of dealing with increased weight, functionally he has no upper weight limit. Meaning that he'll become as strong as his mother.**

 **And just to give you an idea of the Gem of War's true strength, she's much stronger than Garnet is.**

 **We also get to see Pearl and Isaac have a moment to argue with each other. While it may seem as though it's kind of forced, it works for the two. Pearl was jealous of Sugilite because of how much stronger she was compared to her. She was upset that Steven was inspired to be just like Sugilite. Isaac is powerful too and Steven's inspired by him too. All that frustration would've led to Pearl showing bitterness to him until she lets out her frustration on him. However, being kindhearted, she'd feel terrible about it.** **But in the end, these two found forgiveness in each other by showing how much they wanted to support each other in being stronger.**

 **During the battle with Sugilite, I decided to have Isaac's finishing move/execution or Sugilite be inspired by _God of War_ (2018). If you've played the game, then you've likely seen how Kratos finishes off Trolls. What's basically how it was. **

**I haven't actually started _Steven Universe: Future_. Mostly because it didn't really seem all that interesting and also because some people have said that this season/spinoff has problems with the writing, but what do you guys think? Is it something worth getting into? Let me know.**

 **Once again, I'm skipping over a few episodes and finally getting to the end of Act 1 with "An Indirect Kiss", "Mirror Gem", and "Ocean Gem". Who do you think should get the cracked gem? Isaac or Amethyst?**

 **I was actually thinking of flashback chapters of Onyx that will be inserted throughout the story. These chapters wouldn't be in chronological order, only telling different moments in Onyx's life that helps the reader understand why she was such a big deal. Would that be a good idea to do?**

 **Thank you very much for reading. "Gem of War" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and also Review it. If you any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please in a Review or a PM me.**

 **Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.**


	14. Act One: Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: An Indirect Kiss**

"Thanks for inviting me out to your guys' picnic, Connie," Isaac said to the Indian girl as the two of them walked up the temple hill. The young man was carrying an umbrella and the basket with their food and Connie had a picnic blanket under her arm. Lion was walking behind them, toting Steven on his back. It's been a few days since he and Pearl fought Sugilite and a lot of small things happened that ranged from not really important to just another day as a Crystal Gem.

Like when he and Steven helped Sadie prank Lars for being a jerk and ditching her at work with super hot and spice flake concoction that made the teenager breathe fire from how hot it was. Best revenge ever. Then there was one time that went to an underwater temple and Steven got a hold of this time-traveling hourglass. Let's just say a bunch of Steven suddenly popped out of nowhere, all fighting for the hourglass. Then the Crystal Gems formed a band to the festival going on at Beach City. And lastly, Steven popped a bubble that had the Centipeetle in it and released it. However, strangely, the monster was much smaller than it was and Steven tried making friends with it and making it a pet. However, it wasn't easy trying to teach a violent creature how to be nice, but the Centipeetle did sacrifice itself to save the team.

"You're quite welcome, Isaac," Connie said as they reached their destination. Connie set the blanket down and Isaac stabbed the umbrella into the ground and opened it. She then looked back at Steven. "Hurry up, Steven!"

Lion arrived, with a gloomy Steven, lying belly-down on his back. With a gloomy groan, Steven fell face-first off the pink animal. There, he lay without even attempting to get up as Lion gave him an annoyed look. "Oh, brother," Isaac said with a frown as he stared down at the young Gem. "Steven, get your ass up!"

"What's wrong with him?" Conne asked, a little more worried than Isaac appeared to be.

Isaac was worried about the boy too, but after a while of Steven's negative, mopy attitude, it was starting to annoy him. "Hell if I know," he said, gesturing to Steven's body. "The kid's been like this ever since-"

"I'm fine!" Steven suddenly exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and forcing on an obviously fake smile. "Really, I do..." Steven trailed off as he morosely frowned once more. Glancing away from Connie to hide his misery as he walked around her to sit next to Isaac on the picnic blanket.

But it was easy for Connie to see that he wasn't okay. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, handing Steven a sandwich from the picnic basket.

"Yeah..." Steven dejectedly said. Looking absolutely miserable as he ate the sandwich sadly and slowly. Isaac, while annoyed at first, look to Connie. The two shared a concerned glance as they watched the young Gem.

"Steven, look. If you just, you know, talk about it, then it'll make you feel better," Isaac said, to which Steven looked away from him.

"So what did happen," Connie asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Well, you see this new fence?" Asked the blonde Gem, pointing to the fence that was now surrounding the entire perimeter of the cliff. "Well, it was put up yesterday and well, it's kind of a long story."

"Is it a magic story?!" Connie exclaimed.

"Mayybee?" Steven dragged it out hesitantly.

"There was magic involved," Isaac said, much to Steven's dismay. He groaned loudly to get his friend to stop, getting an irked expression."She deserves to know what happened, Steven. And quite frankly, it's the only way I'm going to be getting the bottom of what's been bothering you!"

"Well, what happened?" Connie asked, looking at Steven. "Tell me, please."

Steven knew that he wasn't' going to be able to talk his way out of this. Not with Connie's pleading eyes staring at him and even if he walked away, Isaac would tell her and make things worse for him. And so, the boy caved in. "Okay, okay. But it's not a happy story," Steven said with a reluctant sigh.

 **[Flashback]**

A giant, spider gem monster let out a shrieking roar at the Crystal Gems as they prepared to fight it on top of the cliff. The spider had a smaller cephalothorax compared to its larger abdomen with a hunched position, a lower jaw under its chelicerae covered with teeth, a red-furred body covered with black shades, eight purple eyes, and eight wooled legs covered with sharp tips.

"Steven, stay back!" Garnet ordered the young Gem before the Gems and Isaac dodged out of the way of a webs shot at them by the monster. The gems all rushed at the spider as it shot more webs at them.

Isaac and Pearl ran alongside each other. Tag teaming by cutting the spider's web launched at them first the blonde Gem sliced one attack, before falling back and allowing Pearl to cut the next stream. Garnet then jumped at the monster, gauntlet held up to slash its head. But as she fell towards the spider, it grabbed her with one of its legs. Trapping her with the sharp tips.

As the spider swung Garnet against the ground repeated, being her senseless, Amethyst lashed at it with her whip. The sharp ends of the whip cut up the face of the monster, to which it roared at her. It then jumped high up into the air.

Isaac, Pearl, and Amethyst watched as it came down over them and jumped out of the way before it could land on top of them. Isaac then jumped onto the back of the spider and started slicing and dicing it while Pearl rushed over and started cutting off its legs. Amethyst landed near the very edge of the cliff and readied her whip.

"Alright, let's wreck this fool-" Suddenly, the thin ground she was standing on gave way from underneath, and Amethyst was falling off the cliff's face down towards the ground. Isaac gasped when he saw this and jumped off the spider. Rushing over to the edge of the cliff, he looked down and watched Amethyst's descend in terror. Seeing that she was falling, Amethyst facepalmed. "Ugh, this is so embarrassing," she said, groaning.

Right before crashing chest first into a rock that was nestled on the ground. Her gemstone taking the brunt of image and making an audible cracking sound.

"Holy shit!" Isaac screamed, before begin grabbed by the spider monster. He heard call up to say that she was okay, but he didn't pay much attention to her as he was being dragged towards the monster. The teenage Gem stabbed his sword into the ground to stop.

Pearl then leaped elegantly over the leg and cut it off, making the spider scream in agony.

As Garnet pulled her leg out of the spider's grasp, Isaac looked to Steven. The boy was still standing back and watching the battle take place. However, he also saw Amethyst fall and looked increasingly worried. "Go check on Amethyst! We'll handle this!"

Steven turned and took off running. Garnet jumped back from the spider monster and then rushed at it. The spider, on it's last remaining legs, saw her coming and fired streams of webs at her. However, Garnet deftly flipped over all these attacks. As she got closer, the spider lunged at her with its jaws opened and fangs dripping with what could be venom. As it got closer, Garnet sent her fist forwards. Shoving it into the open maw.

The spider let out a shrilling scream before exploding into red dust. It's small, jagged gem falling down to the ground. Garnet reached down and safely bubbled the gemstone. "Let's go check on Amethyst," she told Pearl and Isaac, and they started running down the cliff.

After running all the way form the hill to the beach, Steven looked ready to collapse, exhausted and panting heavily. Looking perfectly fine, Amethyst waited and watched as he approached her, before finally falling on his face and completely out of breath. "You sure you're okay?" Steven asked with great concern, his exhaustion.

"Yes, Steven, I'm fine. Except for this!" Amethyst pulled aside part of her hair to reveal her left eye that was being covered. It had enlarged to the point that it was double the size of what it was originally and looking off in another direction.

"Amethyst!" Steven didn't have a chance to react when Pearl's voice gasped in horror upon seeing the enlarged eye. Isaac and the other Crystal Gems rushed over to her. "Show me your gem!" Pearl said, reaching towards Amethyst.

Amethyst slapped Pearl's hand away. "Fresh!" But then a hand grabbed her wrist. She looked up and saw it was Isaac.

"Show us," he said sternly.

"C'mon, it's not that ba-" she was interrupted when Isaac glared at her moved his face right in front of hers. Making the purple Gem freeze up, scared.

"That wasn't a request. It was an _order_. NOW."

Everyone around him looked surprised, even Isaac was surprised a bit. Knowing that she'd been found out, Amethyst blushed in embarrassment and glanced away as she pulled down her shirt a little. But it was enough to see that her gemstone was indeed cracked.

While Isaac let go of her arm, satisfied with her compliance, Pearl gasped once more, pulling away from Amethyst with her eyes widening in fear. "Amethyst! Your gem is cracked!"

Blushing even brighter, Amethyst and covers up her gem. "Rude!" she said crossly. "Ah- It's not a big deal! Plus, now I have this cool googly eye." The purple Gem shook her enlarged eye around, making the pupil rattle in it.

Steven chuckled, but Isaac looked to Pearl and Garnet and saw that they were far from amused. "What's the big deal?" he asked, not really sure why they were so worried. "Can't you guys just heal or something?"

"It's not that simple, Isaac. When it's her body, then she's fine," Pearl told him with a frown, before looking up at the towering cliff. "How could I have been so blind? We need to put a fence up there, so this will never happen again!"

 **[Present]**

"And that's why there's a fence," Steven quickly said, interrupting Isaac in hopes of ending the story right then and there. "The end!" He then chomped down on the sandwich in his hands.

"Well, that's the part of the story that explains the fence, but it's not the end of the story," Isaac said.

"Well, what happened to Amethyst," Connie asked.

"So, I asked Pearl..." Isaac began, only to be interrupted when Steven let out a long groan of protest. Isaac waited until he stopped and began again. "I asked Pearl..." again, Steven groaned, which was starting to get on the son of Onyx's nerves. "Come on, Steven! We can't just leave the story there!"

"C'mon! Tell me the rest!" Connie pleaded.

"Or at the very least let me do it if you don't want to tell the rest," Isaac suggested to the younger Gem.

But Steven wasn't too fond of that idea either, and he crossed his arms and looked away. "I don't wanna..."

"Steven?" Connie frowned concernedly. Steven looked away, unyielding. "Steee-veeen~" Connie looked flirtatiously at him. This started to make him crack a bit as he began trembling and murmuring. "Steven!" Connie exclaimed impatiently. Steven trembled faster and groaned louder, but finally gave in.

"Okay, okay! You can tell the rest of the story, Isaac," Steven told the young man, before turning to Connie. "But only if you let me try on your glasses."

"Only if you give me the rest of your juice," Connie said.

"Okay, but it's mostly backwash," Steven warned her.

"Good enough."

Isaac watched as the two kids traded their respected items. Not stopping the cringe his face made.

Steven put on Connie's pink-tinted glasses. "How do I look?" he asked, making a goofy smile.

Connie squinted her eyes at him. "I have no idea."

As everyone got settled down, Isaac started back up the story. "So, we were all worried about Amethyst and I asked Pearl why it was such a big deal..."

 **[Flashback]**

"So, what's the problem?" Isaac asked, looking at Pearl. "Amethyst falls on stuff all the time. Besides, I thought you guys were immortal.

"We are immortal, but we're not invulnerable," Pearl clarified to the blonde Gem, rubbing her temples to ease her stress. "It'd be fine if it was just her body, but her gem is damaged. It's the very core of her being! Any slight damage to the gemstone, such as a crack, results in a serious and often crippling injury to a Gem. And if it continues to crack, it'll shatter, and...if it shatters..."

Isaac's look of curiosity turned to a look of terror and horror for Amethyst's well being. Being more mature than Steven, he was able to pick up on what Pearl was unable to say. "So, Amethyst is dying?"

"In a way," Garnet said, crossing her arms. "Yes."

"I'm not dying!" Amethyst scowled, still trying to deny the severity of her situation.

"So, what do you do to fix it?" Steven asked.

Pearl's expression turned to one of sadness as she averted her eyes from the humans. "Before... we had Rose..."

"Steven, your mother had healing tears that flowed from her gem," Garnet told the young boy as she walked up to him and kneeled down to his level. "Just like Isaac's mother, she felt real love for those around her. She felt real sorrow when they were hurt." She placed a hand on Steven's shoulder as he lifted up his shirt to look at his gemstone. "And just how Onyx passed down her gemstone, you have the Rose Quartz gem now. I know that power is in you, too."

Steven looked at Isaac, who smiled at him and nodded. "If I have my mom's powers, then surely you have Rose's, buddy. Give it a shot."

Giving the young man a readily nod in return, approached Amethyst as she was mess around with her googly eye. "Amethyst! Show me your gem!"

"Yeah, alright," said the purple Gem, pulling down her shirt.

In true Steven style, the young boy posed dramatically. "The power...to heal," he whispered intensely, closing his eyes in preparation to summon his tears. Steven then preformed an elegant and dramatic entry, like he was being wrapped by rose flower vines and then burst out in a flurry of rosebuds.

The reality was much different, however. Steven was straining as hard as he could in front of Amethyst's gem, but nothing happened. He stopped and looked at Isaac, Pearl, and Garnet. "It's not working," he said to them. "I guess I'm just too tough to cry."

"Said the boy that cried about snakes early today," Isaac retorted with a teasing smirk.

Steven sadly whimpered, "They don't have any arms!" However, he didn't cry now.

Garnet had one of her hands under her chin while coming up with a plan. "We have no choice," the leader of the Crystal Gems stated firmly. "We need to take Amethyst to Rose's Healing Spring."

"Healing Spring?" Isaac repeated, confused.

"Oh, Isaac. It's one of Rose's most precious sanctuary," Pearl explained happily with renewed hope as she smiled nostalgically. "And in the center of the garden, Rose's Fountain! Overflowing with her healing, lacrimal essence!"

Amethyst scoffed and waved her hand dismissively. "Guys, I'm fine, I'm not gonna get any wor-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r..." The purple Gem dragged out the word as her face twisted up because her damaged gemstone. The other stared at her, before there was a popping sound and Amethyst was back to normal. However, when she spoke, she started speaking backward. "Yeh syug! Tahw era uoy gniod no eht hcaeb?"

Isaac, Steven, Garnet, and Pearl looked at each other with concern looks. The blonde Gem then pulled out a pen and notebook from his Taco backpack and handed it to Amethyst. She took it and wrote down on the paper, before handing it back to Isaac. He looked at it with the others.

 _Hey, guys! What are you doing on the beach?_

That was definitely bad. "We got to get Amethyst to the fountain," Isaac said.

* * *

The warp pad that would take the Crystal Gems to Rose's fountain was in the middle of a bizarre, bramble-covered canyon. When the pad activated, the light cleared away the bramble covering it in a dome. A second later, and they'd arrived at their destination. "And here we are!" Pearl announced proudly. "Rose's Healing Spring!"

Isaac and Steven looked at the area, only to discover that it anything but what its name sounded like or how Pearl described it to be. Instead of a lush and thriving spring, much like something from Ancient Rome or Greek as Isaac had imagined it to be, the spring enclosed in a massive dome-like structure of thistles and brambles. It was forlornly and had an air of isolation that was as if it was abandoned and left untended ever since Rose's death.

"Uh, Pearl," Isaac mutter to get the lovely white Gem's attention.

"Now let's get Amethyst to the fountain!" Pearl yelled happily, hardly seeming to notice the state in which the spring was in.

"I don't see it," Garnet pointed out with her arms crossed.

"Wha..." Pearl was then grabbed by Isaac, who picked her up and turned her body to face the garden before setting her down. The white Gem gasped in horror when seeing the garden overrun by the massive vines and brambles.

Amethyst said backwards, "Hgu, m'I gniog emoh." She turned to walk back to the warp pad when Garnet stopped her by placing a hand on her head.

Isaac walked up to the dome of brambles with wide eyes. Even with the gloomy environment, it was all still a wonder to behold. But something was about this play that told him it wasn't anything new to him. It had a nostalgic feeling to it that gave Isaac the impression that he's been here before. He reached out and placed a finger gently on one of the thrones of the vines.

Suddenly, his sight and mind were assaulted with flashing and quick visions. Just like when he went to the movies and held that pink sword, it was all like witnessing memories. He hissed in pain and took his hand quickly away from the vines and grabbed his head. Shutting his eyes and grunting.

"Now, now!" Pearl exclaimed a bit uneasily and chuckled the same way. But she hardly noticed Isaac's own problem when she rushed over to him and cling tightly to his right arm for emotional support. Isaac blushed with embarrassment as she pulled him close while also smiling a very strained smile, steadily beginning to panic. "Let's keep it together! Our memories of Rose can't be tainted by some overgrown brambles!" She chuckled for a moment, before scowling down at the vines. "Look at them. They're a mess without her guidance. Directionless, pathetic, clinging things." She continued, tightening her grip on Isaac.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Why did it sound like she was talking about herself and not the plants?

Pearl grabbed Isaac's head with both hands. "It's going to be okay, Isaac!" She exclaimed hysterically, staring into Isaac's eyes with her eyes wide with panic.

This definitely made Isaac feel very awkward as she was freaking out. With his cheeks being smushed together by Pearl, all could do is shrug. "Alright."

"Y-you really think so?" Pearl asked.

Seeing her anxiety going down, Isaac gently grabbed her hands and moved them off his face. "Everything's going to be fine. But we've got to stay focus and not lose our cool," he said to her as Garnet walked over to them. "Look, why don't you and Garnet go look for a way to get to the fountain and I'll look after Steven and Amethyst."

"Wel-ll...I...You're right! Rose would have wanted us to carry on!" Pearl proclaimed before looking around the area. She then spotted a light shining through the brambles and started skipping towards it. "Maybe there's a path over here!"

Isaac let out a sigh before turning to Garnet. "Is Pearl going to be...okay?" he asked with concern for his friend.

"Pearl gets a little...emotional when it comes to Rose Quartz," Garnet said before they both heard what sounded like Pearl yelling a battle cry and swiping her spear at the vines. "Make sure the others are alright, okay?"

The blonde looked back at Steven and Amethyst for a second before turning back to the leader. "Do the same for Pearl, and I've got yourself a deal," he said, extending his hand to her. The two teammates shook hands, before Garnet turned and followed after the slight hysterical Gem.

Isaac then turned and walked back over to where the smallest members of the team were at.

"Healing tears...!" Steven exclaimed as he stood over Amethyst. Continuing to strain himself and forces the tears out. Amethyst let out a bored sigh as she lied next to him, waiting impatiently.

"Steven, stop that, or you're going to pop your eye out," Isaac warned him, to which Steven does with a slightly depressed face.

Amethyst then started speaking in gibberish again, which left the two boys stumped. She pulled out the pen and notebook Isaac gave her and wrote down on it again. When she was done, she turned it around and showed them what she wrote. _"What if it's like Isaac's regenerating blood? Steven doesn't have healing tears but healing blood?"_

Isaac and Steven shared a glance. "Maybe that's it! I'll also cry when I make myself bleed," Steven said, as Amethyst nodded with a proud grin on her face. "Alright, Isaac, let's do this."

"Whoa, kid, you're not actually going to hurt yourself," Isaac asked with concern.

"If it's the only way to only way to save Amethyst, then I will," Steven exclaimed before pointing over at some bramble vines. "I'm just going touch one of those sharp thrones over there." He walked over to brambles and then slowly approaches them with caution. Covering up his eyes, and tried to stick his index finger into a thorn of the brambles.

Isaac watch next to Amethyst as Steven tried to do pock himself. But then, the brambles suddenly started animating and reached towards him. "Steven!" Isaac yelled and bolted towards him.

"Huh?" Steven uncovered his eyes, right before Isaac pushed him out of the way. But this put him in the direct path of the brambles, within their attack range. The son of Onyx only had a second to turn towards the vines and put his arms up to protect himself.

 _LASH!_

"GAAAHHH!" Isaac screamed in agony when the thrones of the vines cut across his arm and back of his hands. Sending him flying back into a large boulder. Crashing hard against before falling down onto the ground. But most of his pain came from his right hand, forcing him to grab it while writhing in agony.

"Amethyst! Steven!" Although a bit froze up by what had just happened, Steve and Amethyst turned their head when they heard Pearl's voice as she and Garnet rush over to them.

"What happened?" Garnet asked, sounding concerned as the reached the three.

"I-I don't know! I was trying to pock myself and then Isaac..." Steven trailed off and gestured to Isaac grunted in pain, curling up on the ground.

"This is bad," Isaac groaned, as his blood stained the floor.

Pearl rushed over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. She noticed the blood staining the ground and the cuts and gashes on his arms.

But they weren't healing.

She gasped and looked to Isaac. "Isaac, you have to show me your gem," she said urgently. Isaac nodded his head and removed his bloodied left hand away from his hand. Pearl gasped, covering her mouth with everyone around the blonde looking at him in shock.

Now Isaac had a crack on his onyx gemstone that began to worsen. But it started to become much worse when crack lines started spreading out from the base of his gem and started spreading up his arm, past his shoulder, across his chest, and up to his neck. The lines connecting to the tips of his facial scar. Isaac then started sweating as he started to feel very ill and weak. "Guy...I'm...starting to feel...cool..." he said, breathing at an increased rate.

Pearl gasped when Isaac collapsed on the ground as he sweated a lot more and started to turn pale. "Isaac! Please, stay with me!" She exclaimed, hugging him.

Their attention was then caught when Amethyst started coughing. "T'nod yrrow ro gnihtyna, m'I doog," she said backwards, before her body started glitching, causing her head and foot to switch places. Amethyst groaned in agony.

This only made Pearl panic even more than before. "Ohh! Oh! Keep calm. What we need to do is to get you both into the fountain immediately, if we can ever find a way through all this mess!" She exclaimed, tearing up. The white Gem stopped when Isaac's hand reached up and placed a finger on her lips, making her eyes widened as Isaac looked up at her with half-closed eyes.

"Pearl...listen to me," he said, breathing heavily, before trying to stand up. But due to how weak he felt and was becoming, he nearly collapsed on the ground if Pearl hadn't gotten up and caught him. "If we...panic...then it's going to be even more...difficult to...get to the fountain...I'm going to need to and Steven...to help me and Amethyst..." He looked to Garnet, who looked as though she was waiting for orders, despite being the team's leader. "Garnet, get us in there..." he pointed to the dome of brambles.

Garnet nodded and walked over to a large rock that was entangled in the brambles. Pearl looked sad with her head aimed down at the ground. Seeing all the blood coming from Isaac's arms. "Why must you always have to be a hero...?"

"Huh?" Isaac question.

Pearl's cheeks flared up and she quickly looked away. "Nothing!"

Garnet shushed Pearl after pulling out a rock from the vines. She then summoned her gauntlet and punched the rock with all her might through the brambles, creating a tunnel to Rose's Fountain."I needed that. This way," she ordered the team.

With her arms around Isaac's side with his arm around her shoulder, Pearl supported the blonde while also looking shocked at what Garnet did. Steven was doing the same with Amethyst. "We could've probably gotten in without hurdling a giant rock into Rose's most precious sanctuary! But if you're okay with it, I'm fine, too!" Pearl ranted with a chuckle.

"Pearl..." Isaac said, getting her attention. "We're going to die...complain about it later." Pearl sighed and followed after Garnet with Isaac, as Steven and Amethyst followed behind. The Crystal Gems proceeded slowly and carefully through the tunnel to Rose's Fountain. Garnet kept her gauntlets on for any further attack from the plant life. Pearl and Steven held onto the person they were holding up tightly to make sure they weren't injured any further.

When light shined on Isaac's face, he looked up and his half-closed eyes widened slightly. Rose's fountain stood there in all it's majesty. Just like Pearl said, it was located in the middle of the garden, and a giant stone statue of Rose Quartz stood at its center on a star-shaped pedestal. Four life-sized Rose statues surround the central sculpture.

"This isn't right," Garnet said as they came out of the opening. Steven placed Amethyst down on and walked a little bit ahead of the team. "The fountain isn't running."

"What?" Pearl exclaimed, leading Isaac over to the fountain's outer ring and laid him again it. She looked into the fountain's pool and saw there was no water. All of it died up over time. "W-what's wrong with it?"

"I'm not sure."

Steven hardly paid attention to them, and stared up at his mother's statue. All the things he's heard about Rose gave him an impression of what she was like. She was perfect in almost every way. Incredible, intelligent, brave, compassionate, strong, magical, a legend and everything that he couldn't name. Everything he wasn't, but inspired to be. To be just like her. Just like how the Gems expected him to be. Oddly, Isaac was the only one that didn't expect him to be like his mother, Isaac barely knew much about his mother, and there were times Steven noticed that Garnet and Pearl were a little hesitant to tell him any stories about her, while they were thrilled to have a chance to talk all about Rose. But why?

"Is that Mom?" Steven asked as his eyes started watering up. "Oh, oh, I'm getting emotional! I think it's happening! Uh, I'm really feeling it! Who should I..."

"Quickly," Pearl grabbed Steven's arm and dragged him over to Isaac. Amethyst quickly laid down next to the blonde and Isaac held his hand next to her gemstone for Steven to cry on both of them. Steven leaned over the gemstones and started straining to cry again while Pearl and Garnet watch.

The next few seconds were of Steven grunting and trying to cry, but nothing happened. He still couldn't cry and when nothing happened, the young Gem got frustrated. "Ah, come on! I had it!" He yelled angrily.

Pearl sighed. "Steven, it's fine. Just—" she placed her hand on the bridge of her nose to try and calm herself. "—just stay here and watch Amethyst and Isaac. We'll find out what's wrong with the fountain."

"No, no. Wait! I can still do it!" Steven exclaimed frantically, stretching his eyelids out to try again. The cracks in Amethyst and Isaac's gem worsened again. Amethyst's body to fall apart into pieces that were only connected by a small line of skin. Isaac felt something some coming up his throat and quickly covered his mouth with his right hand. The cracks continued to spread across his body, as he was unable to hold it in. The tease of iron filled his mouth, and Isaac couched up blood into his hand. He felt even colder and hugged his legs close to his body. Trying to hold back tears as he felt that he was going to die right then and there.

Seeing just hold bad the two injure Gem were getting, with Isaac looking far worse, Garnet and Pearl started to leave, but Steven chases after them.

"Wait, wait! It might still happen! Guys?" He said, trying to convince them that he had his powers. But Garnet and Pearl continued to leave, unable to let Steven take any more chances and ignored him.

As they went off, a dejected Steven alone with the injured. Amethyst then rammed into Steven with her head. Isaac looked up and saw her body trying to round itself up; her hand bouncing her leg like a ball. "Hu, Elttil pleh?" the purple Gem said backwards.

However, seeing her body like that, and Isaac's close to death only discouraged Steven even more. But his sadness turned to anger as he became fed up with the situation. "I can't understand you!" He snapped at her, stopping Amethyst bouncing around as she and Isaac looked at him with shocked expressions. "I don't understand anything! Why is everyone acting so strange? Why can't I-" His ranting stopped for a moment as he looked at Rose's statue at the fountain. "WHY CAN'T I CRY?!"

He paused when he angered shout echoed throughout the area. When it was over, bitter silence returned. Steven sighed and looked up at one of the normal size Rose Quartz statues on the edge of the fountain. "It's just... I mean, I don't know how to feel about you, but everyone else does," he said, speaking to the statue as if it was really Rose and sat next to it. "I wish I could have met you then this place would make me sad, and I could cry healing tears, like you." He climbed and lied on Rose's statue. Curling up in the flowers on its lap.

Isaac stared at the young boy with sympathy and looked down. He understood completely what Steven was going through. He never got to know his mother, and the Crystal Gems couldn't tell him much about her as they barely knew her. But he was able to do all these amazing things she as able to do. In stark contrast to Steven, who the Gems told him all about his mother, but was barely able to do anything she did.

He grabbed onto the edge of the fountain and struggled to get up. Amethyst saw this and talked backwards, probably to get him to stop and not overexert himself, but Isaac didn't care. He wanted to cheer up his friend as the young Gem continued to gaze at the statue of his mother.

But then Isaac's cracking gem glowed and he gasped seeing this. Steven and Amethyst saw, right before the brambles all around come alive again and raised up from behind the statue the young Gem was on.

Even with his body dying, Isaac struggled to his feet and summoned his katana. It was looking much worse than it usually was. Appearing to be chipped, rusted, and beginning to fall apart. But it was still able to do what it was intended for, as Isaac sliced a bunch of vines that swung down at them.

Ignoring the pain in his body, Isaac turned to Steven and yelled, "The fountain!... Hurry!"

"Right!" Steven grabbed collected Amethyst's body and jumped into the fountain. Isaac's wasn't too far behind and rolled himself over the edge as bushes animated and advanced towards them. The tumble into the center of the fountain was extremely painful, but luckily, he crashing into Steven and Amethyst at the bottom.

Isaac, with his katana still in hand, looked up and saw the bushes couldn't reach them and the vines wouldn't going near them. But they were now trapped, and the number of plants surrounding them only grew.

And it only got worse when both his and Amethyst's gemstones were now on the verge of shattering. his sword disappeared and Isaac fell onto the ground, having lost almost all motor control. Amethyst's body form started glitching even more.

"Amethyst, Isaac, I'm sorry!" Steven said holding Amethyst as Isaac laid in front of him. "I can't do anything right. Now I'm going to lose you, and it's all my fault."

Amethyst glitched again, and spoke again. but this time, in what would likely be her final words, she spoke normally in a slow, slurred, but understanding voice. "Ha ha... You care... about... me."

Steven hugged Amethyst tightly when he heard this and let out small, tearless sobs. "Please let me be a magic healer..." he whispered and started to weep. A lone tear drips off his face and fell onto Amethyst's gem landing right on her crack. Steven opened his eyes and gasped in joy when sat the tear. He waited for it to heal the gemstone, but as seconds rolled by, Amethyst's gem remains cracked. Leaving him frustrated. "Oh, come on!"

But it becoming too late for, Isaac. His eyes grew heavy and his hearing started to muffled. As he was starting to close his eyes, Steven saw this and frantically reached out with one of his arms and shook his friend's shoulder to keep him awake. But as Isaac's eye closed, all he could hear was the young Gem's sobbing, desperate cries for him to stay alive.

"Isaac? _ISAAC!"_

And then once again, just like when he woke up after being in a coma after unleashing Hellfire. Mulitple images flashed in Isaac's head. Memories that were impossible to make out or see. Some appeared to be pleasant, and some looked horrible and tragic. But he couldn't understand any of them.

It all ended when everything went black.

"Isaac...can you hear me?"

Upon hearing the woman's voice. Isaac's eyes opened slightly, but his vision was still blurry. Everything was so different now. He wasn't in the fountain. He couldn't tell where he was. It wall so bright and blinding. The young adult Gem wasn't on the floor, even though that's where he was last time he checked. It felt as though he was in someone's arms.

He looked up and saw a black silhouette of a person with their hair framing their face and a spiky ponytail.

"My son, so beautiful to behold," the woman said with such a beautiful voice. "All I've ever know was war and violence. With you, I'm not taking a life, I'm finally giving life. Be better than me, Isaac. I love you..."

"Mom..." Isaac whispered, closing his eyes again before opening them. He was back in the fountain with Steven and Amethyst.

Suddenly, the whole place started rumbling. Steven looked around to find the source, but it was nowhere to be seen. As Isaac laid on the ground, he felt something coming up from under him.

 **[Play music: _Warframe_ OST - The Sacrifice - "To Take Its Pain Away"]**

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a massive surge of pink water burst out of the large central statue of Rose's Fountain, raining down on the hybrids and Amethyst, washing over them, and flooding the whole place. The bushes disperse away from the fountain and bright pink roses bloomed on them. The brambles also begin to disappear as they blossom into flowers that rained down upon the fountain peacefully, allowing sunlight to shine into the now-lively sanctuary again.

Isaac stayed underwater after it engulfed him. He even swallowed some of it. Suddenly, he felt himself returning to his original state of being. No, it was more than that. He never felt more alive than ever. His pain was gone, his wounds were healed, the crack scars reverted, and his onyx gemstone healed completely. However, the scar on the right side of his face wouldn't go away. Forever staying where it was.

He swam up to the surface for some much-needed air. When he broke the surface, he took a moment to pause and take in the scenery. Seeing the garden back to its former glory, and bring back a nostalgic feeling.

"Have I...been here before?" he asked no one in a whisper and looked at his hands. Almost as if he's done it before, he plunged his arms into the water.

"Look at this guy, saving my life and junk," said Amethyst, Isaac looked and saw her and Steven laughing together. He smiled and leaned back into the water floating on his back for a moment.

"Oh, thank goodness," an angelic voice cut Isaac's out of his moment of peace and he turned around towards one of the star-shaped gates of the garden and saw Pearl and Garnet had returned. Then when she saw Isaac, she gasped and rushed over to him. "Isaac!"

Isaac swam over to the edge of the fountain and placed his arms on it. "Pearl, it's okay," he said when she approached him and examined his hand. "I'm...fine..." he trailed off when staring at her. He always knew that Pearl was pretty, but how did he not realize she was this beautiful? Her blue eyes stood out for him as he saw the shade they were, and it was a perfect one for her.

Noticing that he was staring at her with stars in his eyes, Pearl looked up and asked, "Are you ok?"

"You're so beautiful..." Isaac said without think, but when he did, his eyes widened and he blushed with her. "I-I sorry, I-I-I-I didn't mean to say that-not that you aren't beautiful, you are...I just..."

"Oh, no! It's okay! Uhhh! Thank you..." She said with her blush getting noticeable brighter. Taking her hands away from his, she turned away from him as Garnet walked over.

"Are you okay, Isaac?" she asked as Pearl backed away. Looking at the blonde, but not only in sideways glances.

Isaac nodded and stepped out of the fountain as water dripped from his wet clothes. "I'm better than okay," he said, before turning to the fountain. Garnet watched, nearly gasping when he reached down and plunged his arms into the pink water. Just like his mother used to do, he brought up his hands that were cupping some of the water and drank it. Almost mirroring what Onyx did. Isaac looked back at Garnet and grinned. "I'm alive."

Garnet smiled nonetheless and Pearl looked away again with a blush. "Good," said the leader.

"Did you see what I did? It was magic!" Steven yelled out to Garnet and Pearl while swimming with Amethyst towards them. "My tears brought the fountain back to life and saved Amethyst!"

Pearl exchanged a somewhat confused glanced with Garnet before turning back to the young Gem. "I'm pretty sure me and Garnet unplugging the clogged chamber brought the fountain back to life," the white Gem informed him.

"We saved Amethyst," Garnet said.

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"That it."

"You don't think my crying was a _little_ related to that?" Steven asked.

Pearl walked over and placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder. "Oh Steven, you don't have healing tears. You'll never have any real magic powers, and we don't want anything more to do with you," she told him in a harsh, condescending tone as Steven looked at her with a horrified expression.

 **[Present]**

"Oh come on!" Isaac smacked Steven over the head when he interrupted him at the very to tell that last part of the story. "That a load of bullshit!" He sternly corrected him as he held his hurting head. "The Gems were supportive of you, Pearl never said those words, and you damn well know it!"

"Yeah, but that's what it felt like," Steven said sadly.

"Is that why you've been so down," Connie asked with a concerned expression. More worried about him than ever before

Steven shrugged sadly, not saying anything as he now felt worse after the story was told. "Look, buddy, I'm sorry that you didn't have healing tears," Isaac said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But look on the bright side, Amethyst and I are still alive, right?"

"Yeah, I guess..." the young Gem frown, not brightening up at all.

Isaac looked to Connie to see that the girl looked unsure of what to do to cheer up Steven. "Um...You can have your juice back," she offered with a small smile.

"Nah, that's okay," Steven refused. Isaac and Connie continued to look worried at him as the boy sniffled and sighed. "Everyone expects me to be like my mom. What if I never get those powers?"

"Then you'll be like me. That's not so bad," Connie replied.

"B-But if I don't have powers, then I can't hang out with Amethyst or Garnet or Pearl or you Isaac," Steven protested, starting tearing up. Gripping his right pant leg tightly as his eyes welled up. "And I-I can't go on missions!"

Isaac was about to say something to reassure him, but Connie beat him to the punch by reaching out and placing a hand over Steven's. Steven let out a soft gasp when their skin made contact, and he looked up to see leaning a little closer to him. His mouth gaped slightly as his eyes widened and his heart started pounding.

"You don't need any powers to be here with me," Connie said softly, taking a sip of the juice and leans forward to Steven. Isaac sat on the sideline and it was looking like she was going to kiss him, so he remained silent and just watched the touching scene. The winds lightly blew all around them as the two kids both blushed red in slight embarrassment. However, just when it looked like Connie was going to kiss Steven, she suddenly stopped and placed a hand on her forehead when feeling a sudden headache. "Ow. Ugh."

"What's wrong?" Steven asked concernedly.

"Are you alright?" Isaac asked too.

"I think- There's just—" Connie stopped midsentence with a sigh and took off her glasses, squinting her eyes tightly. "Something wrong with my glasses. My..." At first, she thought that taking them off would get rid of her headache. But suddenly and miraculously, the girl's vision changed and she gasped in shock when everything around her became crystal clear. "My eyes. I-I-I can see!"

"What?!" Isaac and Steven exclaimed in bewilderment.

"I can see without my glasses!" Connie replied in a mixture of surprise and shock.

"You're eyes just got better on their known?" Isaac asked. "That does even seem physically possible!"

"Wait," Steven gasped in realization. "Did I heal your eyes? But how?" Isaac and the two kids slowly directed their gaze and stared at the juice box Steven gave to Connie. The same one that she was holding and had its straw oddly sparkling. The young Gem gasped in awe and jumped to his feet while the Indian girl dropped it in shock. "The juice box! Amethyst was right! I don't have healing tears, I have healing _spit_!" He proclaimed in joy, raising his fists high into the air.

"That's awesome!" Isaac exclaimed in delight, before his face cringed in disgust. "And so wrong..."

"What am I going to tell my parents?!" Connie anxiously asked the hybrids. "What am I going to tell my optometrist?!"

"I don't even know! Oh, thank you, Connie!" Unable to contain his excitement, Steven hugged Connie in a warm embrace. Making her blush again before he let her go and turned to Lion, who had woken up. "Lion, let's go tell the Gems, they're never going to believe this!" Steven and Lion rush down the hill, leaving Connie and Isaac alone.

Connie let out a sigh and looked at her glasses. Seeing how troubled she was, Isaac stood up and held out his hand. Wondering what he was going to do, she handed him the glasses and watched as he popped the lenses out of her glasses. He then handed them back to her. "It's not perfect, but its the least I can do for helping Steven cheer up again," he said with a smile. "I should get going before Steven freaks out the Gems."

The young girl stood there and watched Isaac walk away as Steven and Lion were still running. This was definitely a lot to take in all at once. Steven really was extraordinary. Ever since the day they've met, her friendship with him and Isaac has changed her in so many ways. They've managed to open her up and break out of her shell. Showing her wonders she only imagined. And then his spit, as an indirect kiss, healed her eyes. It was all so strange, but this was something new that she was going to have to live with. Deep down, she was now something new.

As the wind blew through her hair, Connie placed her glasses back on. Wonder what will change and what will stay the same.

* * *

 **AN:** **And that concludes the 14th chapter of the first act and it was definitely intense and had some interesting moments and plot developments.**

 **The first major change in the chapter was the battle with the spider gem monster. I didn't want to repeat how Amethyst feel off the cliff in the actual canon story, as it was kind of lame. So I changed it to have the Gems fight a monster that led to her falling off the cliff.**

 **Then there was Isaac's gem cracking. I asked people who should have gotten their gemstone cracked and it was a draw between Isaac and Amethyst. So I decided to have the two of them almost die. While Amethyst's almost shattering played out the same in the show, Isaac's was much more violent and terrible. His gem is a part of his lifeform and it shattering is like killing him. However, the cracks on his body does kind of open up a bigger story with Isaac's/Onyx's scar.**

 **We do get some development with Isaac and Pearl. In the story, she's worry and almost is ready to break down, but Isaac is always there to calm her down. It's only a small thing, but it does add to their relationship, and will also play a part in the future.**

 **So I asked you guys if you would like to see chapters about Onyx and you all seem enthused by it and I'm excited about it too. However, it seems that you're only interested in the relationship between Isaac's dad and Onyx. I'll have that story for when I get to "Story for Steven", as it was the episode that Greg told Steven the story of how he met Rose Quartz.**

 **However, for the first flashback story, it's going to be when Onyx was betrayed, learns the truth, and then joins the revolution. It'll take inspiration from one of my favorite canceled shows, _Tron: Uprising_. That being said, I will be taking down "The Reason: A Gem of War story" short story, as it wouldn't be canon with "Gem of War" and I wouldn't want people to get confused.**

 **Thank you very much for reading. "Gem of War" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and also Review it. If you any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please in a Review or a PM me.**

 **Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.**


	15. Act One: Chapter 15

**AN: What do I have to do to get some Reviews, people!?**

 **Also, this is a combination of Mirror Gem and Ocean Gem**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Ocean Gem in the Mirror**

It's been a while since Isaac came to Beach City to find the Crystal Gems and it's been an interesting experience for him to say the least. He was all but excepting to just find out about his mother and then leave. However, as fate would have it, with the death of his father, and nowhere else to go he became a permanent member of the Crystal Gems and he couldn't be happier. Each day was something new and exciting, so when Isaac woke up, he was expecting another awesome experience.

Isaac woke up on his bed after sleeping in, resting on his air-mattress that was gifted to him on his birthday. He moved up to the second floor with Steven and now slept on the floor in front of the young boy's bed.

"Hey, Isaac," he heard the voice of his friend and looked down to see Steven sitting in front of the air mattress. "Are you awake?"

Isaac smirked. "No, I'm fast asleep, kid," he said, getting Steven to laugh. Isaac chuckled and sat up. "What's going on?"

"Have you ever been to something call a...school?" Steven asked.

It took a moment for Isaac to figure out whether to laugh, thinking it was a joke, or to be shocked if the boy was serious. "You've...never been to a school before," he asked.

"Well, yeah. The Gems and my dad homeschooled me. Pearl kept saying that it had something to do with her being able to provide a better learning environment than any public school can."

"Well, she's not wrong there," Isaac said. While he thought it was best for kids to learn from someone that's a professional and can teach them properly, he's not the biggest fan of the academic environment. Not to mention he didn't have the best experience growing up in public school being a half-Gem whose powers were starting to bloom. If anyone was capable of teaching the young boy, it was definitely Pearl, as she was the most intelligent member of the team. "So, what brought this on?"

"Well, Connie said that she wasn't going to be able to hang out with me because she has tennis practice, but she'll be out of school with summer vacation," Steven explained as Isaac started getting dressed for the day. "I asked her what a school was and she told me every detail about the things at a school and so I asked Pearl if she'd want to turn the home into a school for when she teaches me."

Isaac slipped on his star and crack shirt and though for a moment. Things between him and Pearl have gotten a bit awkward ever since he said she was beautiful at the fountain. The two haven't looked at the other the same since. However, he was willing to put aside his dilemma if it meant helping Steven.

"Alright, let me get cleaned up and we'll start," he told the boy, who grinned happily.

* * *

"Alright, let's set it right here," Isaac told Pearl, as the two moved a desk into the living room and set it in front of a blackboard that Pearl acquired from an old schoolhouse. All around the house, there were school items that the two brought out for Steven.

"So, how do we begin our 'school'," Pearl asked the young man as Steven rushed over and sat at the desk.

"Well, now the teacher of the class starts teaching," Isaac said, leaning against the counter. "But I'm not sure what you teach him."

The moment Pearl heard the word 'teach', Pearl gasped happily at the idea. "Teach him?! Steven! If only I had known _that's_ what you really wanted!" She moved away from the blackboard and stood in an open space. Then the white Gem struck a strange pose. "Twooooh!" She then begins doing a brief dance that Isaac saw her do only once. Ending it by having her hands around her gemstone. "Haaaaaah!" Pearl's gem begins to glow, as she summoned a growling orb that floated over to the boys.

That orb took on a new form. A simple, average-sized hand mirror. It had an ornate design of silver-blue metallic material that comprised the backing and handle of the mirror. The glass was a round piece of reflective blue glass with a faint contour of an octagonal gemstone etched on its surface. However, the most interesting part about it was a strange, blue gemstone that was embedded on the back, which took the form of a water droplet, and had a rather deep crack etched into its otherwise smooth surface.

The mirror twirled in mid-air before Isaac reached out and grabbed it."We found this Gem-powered mirror at the Galaxy Warp hundreds of years ago. It can capture and display any event it's witnessed in all of Gem history," Pearl explained as Isaac held in front of his face. Steven stood up to look in the mirror while the white Gem walked around them and placed her hands on both of the boys' shoulders. "It'll offer you everything you've ever wanted to know about your fellow Gems and our culture."

Steven and Isaac looked at their reflections in the mirror as the young Gem said, "I must be _incredibly_ important to Gem culture."

"That's just you, buddy. I'm not even sure if it's even on," Isaac said with a frown.

Well, why don't we activate it and give it a little test run," Pearl said before clearing her throat and then speaking in an authoritative tone. "Show us the Galaxy Warp." The mirror does nothing. It just remained still and silent as any normal mirror would be. "Show. Us. The Galaxy Warp." Pearl tried again, more firmly this time. But again, it does nothing, getting the Gem frustrated. "Oh, come on! I know you've seen it." She grabbed the mirror while Isaac was still holding it and tugged on it. Glaring at the device while examining it. Sighing in disappointment, she turned it over to look at the gemstone. "It is in pretty rough shape. It must finally be broken." She shook her head before letting it go for Isaac. "What a shame."

Isaac looked at the fancy mirror, looking at the scar of his mother on his face for a moment. There was something about it that gave the young man this feeling. Like it had a heartbeat. Shaking his head to clear it, he then handed it off to Steven so that he could see it.

Steven held up the mirror and admires himself in it. "Doesn't seem broken to me!"

"Other than the cracked gem, it's not in bad shape," Isaac said, tapping on the blue gemstone.

"Oh well. I guess that's the end of our school," Pearl said, walking past the boys.

This made Steven's expression change to a look of excitement as his body shook a bit. "Whoa. Wha... So you could say... School's out for summer?" he asked, with big eyes.

Not really paying attention to him, Pearl chuckled and replied, "Yes. Good, Steven. There are many ways to say the same thing."

Not wasting another moment, Steven grabbed Isaac's arm and pulled him along after him as they rushed out the door. "School's out!"

Pearl looked at the room filled with classroom items for a moment. "Hmm. This does appear to be an adequate learning environment," she said to herself.

* * *

Steven started running down the beach with Isaac not that far behind. The blonde sped up to catch up with his friend, and was now running alongside him. "School's out!" Steven shouted happily, turning to Isaac. "Happy summer vacation, Isaac!"

"You sure are excited for a guy that doesn't even go to school," Isaac remarked with a bemused grin.

Steven broke out into laughter as he started slowing down and walking backwards. "Oh come on, Isaac. It's the summer. Happy summer vacation, Beach City!" He yelled with his hands up.

Isaac saw the mirror in the boy's hands and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you still have that mirror? It doesn't work," he said.

"I don't know." Steven looked at himself in the mirror. "It's hard to explain, but I just..."

"Feel it," Isaac asked. Still walking backwards, Steven moved in front of his friend with wide eyes. "I felt it too. It's almost as if-" Before the blonde Gem could finish, and because he wasn't looking where he was going, Steven bumped into Lars and Sadie. The two employees were setting up tables outside the Big Donut. Causing them to knock over the table they were carrying out.

"Ugh, watch where you're going, you little f..." Lars began before harshly hiss, stopping himself when he glanced at Sadie, then saw Isaac with Steven. The young man shot the teenager a glare, daring him to finish that sentence. "Ssssteven!" he said bitterly.

"Sorry! I'm just so excited for summer. Are you excited for summer? I'm so excited for summer!" Steven exclaimed happily.

"It's not going to be any different from any other day," Isaac said.

Sadie laughed a little at the enthusiasm that the boy showed. "Uh, I think I'm as excited as I can get about setting up extra seating for the summer rush," she said with a casual grin, gesturing to the extra tables and seats placed all around the front of the store. "But Lars has big plans."

Lars was picking at his teeth before noticing that the others were looking at him. "You bet I do!" He exclaimed with a smile. "All those out-of-town summer babes traveling away from home without their boyfriends, if you know what I mean." Lars jittered his eyebrows.

Steven looked cluelessly at Lars before innocently shaking his head. "Nope."

"He's gonna be hitting on girls," Isaac explained dryly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh...I still don't get it."

"I tell you about it when you're older."

"Maybe I'll get a few numbers," Lars said with a wistful sigh, getting caught up in his own fantasy. Must to Sadie's amusement. "Maybe I'll even... call one."

Not helping herself, Sadie let out a laugh before correcting herself and retorted, "Well, yeah, maybe I'll meet a new friend," she said, awkwardly.

"That's a great idea!" Steven said with a smile. "A special new friend to have fun on the beach with in the summer. Maybe if I keep using the mirror to guide me, I'll walk backwards into my own beach-summer-fun buddy!" He held the mirror out and started walking backwards. The young boy then waved at Isaac. "Come on, Isaac! Follow me!"

Isaac smiled at his actions and turned to Sadie and Lars. "Catch you two later. And good luck, Lars," he said with a teasing smirk. "You're gonna need it!" He then started walking away after his friend, who was already heading off into town.

"You'll see! Next time you see me, I'll be on the arm of a hot woman!" Lars angrily called out to Isaac.

"You can stop talking about it now," Sadie said with a frown.

* * *

With their newfound hunt for friends on, Isaac and Steven continued walking down the boardwalk. Steven started running backwards ahead of his blonde friend while laughing. "Come on, Isaac, you should join me!" Steven encouraged. He then began imitating Michael Jackson and moonwalking. "Wo, Wo, Wo, Wo! Wo, Wo, Wo, Wo! Wo, Wo, Hee-Hee!"

Isaac laughed at the boy as Steven continued to moonwalk into the boardwalk. There was never a day when his fun-loving teammate didn't make him smile. Isaac turned his head to admire the many sights, but then he heard the sound of Mayor Dewey's Van coming as its siren chanted "May-or Dew-ey" repeatedly. And it sounded like it was getting closer.

 _"Er, watch where you're going, you little!"_

"Huh?" Isaac questioned, though Steven heard it quite clearly as well. They looked towards the source and saw it was the mirror that said it, showing Lars in its glass. Isaac turned around and his heart sank when he saw the van heading straight for Steven. "Nooo!" He screamed in fear and rushed over.

The child braced himself for a painful impact, before Isaac jumped in front of Steven and held out his hands. Stopping the van with his hands. He pushed against the van and his strength stopped the van immediately, coming to a screeching halt, even though the impact made him slide back a little.

Isaac panted a little when Steven rushed over to make sure he's okay. "Isaac! Are you alright!?" He quickly asked.

"I'm fine, buddy," Isaac reassured him, panting him on the head.

Mayor Dewey leaned out of the van, glaring at them with an annoyed scowl and started to scold them through a megaphone. "Car wash kid, what's your problem?!" he shouted, only to scream in fear when Isaac slammed his fists on the top of the vehicle's hood, denting it.

"I should be asking _you_ the same thing! Are you out of your _fucking_ mind!?" Isaac yelled back at him with a glare "You could've killed him! Why are you even driving down the boardwalk?! This isn't a road, idiot!"

"I'm the mayor!" Dewey protested sourly like it's obvious. "I'm not going to _walk_ anywhere. Now, go get run over somewhere else. I'm late for a speech." The mayor turned his nose up at the two and maneuvered the van around them and began to drive off again. Isaac lightly growled as the politician left the two Demigems - something that he called himself and Steven as a play on the word Demigod.

"Spoken like a true politician," Isaac commented, already deciding that he didn't like him. "An egotistical, self-absorbed, and an asshole." He then heard Steven laugh, making Isaac smirk. "Thanks."

"Uh, I didn't laugh," Steven said, looking down at the mirror. At first, it was just a normal mirror, until it suddenly rippled like water and whirled into what could only be described as a recording of Steven laughing. The two hybrids stared in complete astonishment seeing this, unable to believe their eyes. It whirled again to show Isaac.

 _"Like a true politician,"_ the mirror replayed, before whirling back to Steven laughing.

Steven gasped in awe. "You work! This is so cool!" He exclaimed happily.

Isaac took the mirror and looked at it. "This is incredible!" He remarked with a huge grin. "Can you say anything else?"

The mirror whirled and replayed Isaac. _"Anything else?"_

Steven and Isaac laughed at this. The young boy then cleared his throat, so Isaac pointed the mirror at him. "What's it like being a mirror," Steven asked.

The image in the mirror whirled to show Steven when he said, _"You work!"_

Isaac then kneeled down to be at Steven's heigh and they both looked at the mirror. It was kind of weird how freely the mirror was acting right now, but he just jogged it up to it still being thousands of "So you can repeat stuff," he asked the mirror itself. "Like some kind of self-conscious recorder, right?"

 _"Yeah!"_ The mirror exclaimed in Steven's voice.

"Hello, Beach City, my friends!" The two Gems shifted their attention from the mirror and glanced over to the beach to see the mayor was giving a speech on the beach. He was speaking into a microphone while standing on top of his van, which was surrounded by a crowd of the townsfolk. Isaac and Steven shared a mischievous smile and ran over to the crowd with the mirror. "It's great to be here to celebrate the coming season. A warm summer breeze wafts through the air," Dewey said with bravado.

Isaac smirked and handed Steven the mirror, having him pointed towards him. Inhaling a deep breath of air, Isaac placed his palms to his mouth and let out a very loud, fake fart noises. "PBHT!" The crowd around them snickered softly at this.

Mayor Dewey continued on with his speech, having not heard the fart noise. "We all look forward to the sounds of the summer season..."

Immediately understanding that joke the boys were going for, the mirror replayed Isaac's fart noise, _"PBHT!"_

"... the smells of the busy boardwalk..."

 _"PBHT!"_

"... the hot, wet ocean wind..."

 _"PBHT!"_

"... the time to take that pressure that's built up all year and just let it out."

 _"PBHT!"_

After that last fake fart, the crowd and Isaac finally lost it and broke out into full-fledged laugher. Dewey finally realized that he was being mocked and ended the speech. "Ok, that's enough!" He shouted, getting down off the van and driving off.

As the crowd dispersed, Isaac and Steven high-fived, successfully gotten even with the mayor. "Wow, you picked that up fast," Steven said to the mirror.

* * *

Time passes by and now the sun was setting over the horizon. Isaac and Steven remained on the beach, with the mirror. The mirror seemed to really like the fart noise because it continued to replay it. Both Demigems continued laughing whenever it did it, due to the prank back at the speech being pure gold. Thankfully the mirror stopped and the boys were able to calm down. "Man that never gets old," Isaac remarked with a grin as he laid on his back and Steven was laying on his stomach with the mirror in hand. "Nice work back there, mirror."

 _"Thanks."_ The mirror repeated what he said before. But then it suddenly did something entirely different. _"Nice work back there- "_ it suddenly cut from Isaac to an image of Steven after the blonde stopped Dewey's van. _"Isaac!"_

Needless to say, Isaac and Steven were quite surprised by this. "Holy shit!" Isaac said, amazed that it was capable of something like that on its own. "Can you do it again? Say something else!"

 _"Something else!- there- you- go!"_

Steven let out a short laugh before looking at the mirror. "You got a lot of mileage out of that joke. You're pretty funny for a mirror," he said.

 _"You're pretty funny for a mirror."_

Steven chuckled. "I'm not a mirror."

 _"You're pretty funny for a- Ssssteven- and Isaac!"_

Isaac chuckled and sat up on the sand, looking at the mirror with a smile. "Well, we can't take all the credit," he said, rubbing the back of his head. It was a lot of fun playing with the device, and what's strange was that it was as if they were talking to a real person. "So, mirror, got anything else for us?"

 _"Ssssteven—and- Isaac- are—my- new friend."_ The mirror repeated, constructing the rather complex sentence from all the people it had heard from today. This made Isaac and Steven exchange bashful smiles when hearing the heartfelt sentence from the mirror.

Steven looked back at the mirror, blushing. "Really?"

 _"Yeah!"_

"You're my friend, too!" Steven proclaimed and the mirror repeated when Steven laughed. Isaac smiled and patted his friend on the back. It continued to impress him that the boy could make friends with anyone. Even a mirror.

"Definitely," he said. "You know. It's almost strange. It's as if you're a real person."

 _"I-am-a real person,"_ the mirror said, bewildering the son of Onyx with the message it just relayed to him.

Steven suddenly got to his feet and turned to Isaac after gasping as if he realized something. "You know what? We've got to show the Gems."

"Yeah, you're right!" Isaac exclaimed and rose to his feet, busting off his clothes of sand. "They're definitely going to love this."

 _"Nooooo!"_ The mirror suddenly exclaimed, repeating when Isaac yelled in panic when seeing Steven about to get run over.

This startled Isaac, who recognized the voice and scene. He looked at Steven, but the young Gem just as surprised as him. "What the hell was that about," he asked, frowning. Unsure as to why the mirror would suddenly have a panicked reaction.

Don't be shy, they'll love you," Steven said, trying to calm the worried mirror about meeting the Gems.

"I don't know," Isaac said, still frowning. "Maybe it's not a good idea to show the Gems. What if it was pretending to be broken for all this time to hide from them."

 _"Yeah!"_ The mirror repeated Steven.

"Oh, come on, Isaac," Steven protested earnestly. "It'll be fine. The Gems will see that it's working and we can all be friends."

 _"Nooooo!"_ The mirror screamed again, only this time it echoed.

Oblivious to the mirror's worried, Steven chuckled warmly and was quick to reassure it. "Don't worry, they're a good audience."

He then ran off towards the temple with Isaac right behind him. As he followed behind Steven, he stared at the mirror and then looked at his gemstone. It wasn't glowing, so why was it so worried about seeing the Gems?

* * *

By the time they made it back to the temple, the sun had gone down. However, before they entered the house, the Gems were having a conversation of their own as Pearl was stacking the classroom items into a rather tall, yet very neat pile. One that concerned the newest member of their team.

"Whoa..." Amethyst said as she say upside down on the couch next to Garnet. Her two teammates had finally told her everything they know about Onyx, and needless to say, she was shocked, amazed, and a little troubled by what she was told. "That's...That's heavy. And he really doesn't know about her true nature"

"And out of respect to Onyx's wishes, I would keep it that way," Garnet firmly told her with her arms crossed and legs kicked up on the couch.

Pearl placed a model of the earth on top of the tower and sighed sadly. "I just wished that Rose was here," she said somberly. "Then she could tell him and we wouldn't have to be lying to him. Especially now."

"What do you mean, P?" Amethyst asked, sitting upright. "Didn't Rose tell you? She basically tells you _everything_." The purple Gem rolled her eyes.

"That is none of your concern," Pearl snapped angrily at her. "And remember what I said- when I was still in my gem? About those visions he had?" Right after that day when Isaac brought Pearl out of her gemstone, she informed the others about what he'd said to her about seeing the Diamonds, Rose, and the baby. "If he keeps having these flashbacks, then he will want answers."

"That will be my problem," Garnet stated firmly.

"Uh, why? We don't keep secrets from each other, right?" Amethyst said.

"We don't tell Steven about certain things," Pearl said. "And it's for his own good, and because Rose wouldn't have wanted him to know."

"Just like Isaac. It's why she trusted Rose with certain things," Garnet said. "But with Rose gone, those secrets are gone, and Isaac may only have her memories to learn the truth. A truth I'm not even sure will be easy to learn."

Pearl knew that Garnet was right, but little did the fusion and Amethyst know was that the white Gem did know everything about Onyx. There was much the Gem of War wouldn't have Isaac know. And it was the same way with Rose. It's why Rose ordered her to never speak to them about the truth, so she'd be unable to tell any of them. "If you say so, Garnet, but I just wanted to say something," Pearl said nervously. Insecure about speaking her mind, but she had to tell them. "It's something Rose told me..."

This got Garnet and Amethyst's attention and they listened closely.

"Isaac..." Pearl said, letting out a breath as she continued. "The longer we wait to tell him his nature, the more damage we'll do. He will resent us and...and we may lose him forever."

There was silence in the room as those words sank in. Only to be broken from their throughs when the door burst open and the two boys of discussions entered the house. "Guys! Wait 'till you see-" Steven stopped when he and Isaac saw the pile of school equipment from before that Pearl arranged into a tower, while Garnet and Amethyst watch on.

Quick to change the subject, Amethyst greeted the two. "Yo! Ste-man! Ice-ax!"

"Hello, Steven...Isaac," Pearl said much more politely, but said the son of Onyx's name a little more quietly as she looked away. Isaac's shoulders slumped as he rubbed the back of his head from the still awkwardness.

"Howdy," Garnet greeted with a cool smile and pointed a finger gun at the duo. "Bang."

"Do I want to know what's with the pile?" Isaac asked.

"Pearl's was in a cleaning mood today, so she made...that," Amethyst said with a bemused smirk. So glad to finally talk about something that wasn't so heavy and just lighten the mood. "You guys wanna see something hilarious?" The purple Gem grinned mischievously and grabbed one of Steven's stuffed animal, M.C. Bear Bear, and attempted to place it on the tower. The moment it touched the edged of the pile, Pearl quickly impaled it with her spear, making Amethyst start to laugh.

"You don't understand!" The white Gem scolded the shorter one as she brought her spear back, with the bear still impaled on her weapon. "Symmetrical means both sides have to be the same!" Pearl grunted angrily, yanking M.C. Bear-Bear off her spear, and then tossed it into a pile of other various items she's stabbed.

"M.C. Bear-Bear!" Steven gasped in horror, as Isaac giggled. Finding it a little funny. "Okay, that's great. Anyway, we fixed the mirror!"

"Excellent work, you two!" Pearl praised the two, making her spear disappear.

"Yeah, it's kind of hard to explain, but it's been talking to us like an actual person," Isaac pointed out. The Gems react in shock when they heard that. "Did you guys know about that?

"Wait. What?" Pearl asked, confused and taken aback

"Say 'hey.'" Steven said with a big grin, pointing the mirror at the Gems."... Lil' buddy..." He urged the mirror, but it did nothing and remained silent. Isaac looked to the Gems and saw they were still looking at the two hybrids in shocked. Noticing their disturbed expressions.

"Uh... excuse us," Isaac said, before turning himself and Steven around so they could talk in private. "Steven, I'm telling it may not have been a good idea to show the Gems." He anxiously looked back to see them still staring at them. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"It'll be fine," Steven said, before turning back to the mirror to try and coax to reveal itself. "Come on. You want to come out, don't you? You have so much to say and funny noises to share from across the ages. Are we not beach-summer-fun buddies?"

Isaac placed his hand on top of the mirror and had it turned towards him. "Mirror, are you still there? Can you hear us?"

There was a long silence from the mirror, before it suddenly gave in and whirled to show Isaac making the farting noise. _"PBHT!"_

Isaac and Steven laughed despited the tenseness. "Just couldn't help yourself, huh?"

The mirror then constructed another original sentence from what it'd recorded. _"_ _Just- for- you! Ssssteven- and- Isaac!"_

Isaac laughed with Steven, as the mirror recorded them and repeated their laugh. Shifting from one to the other. The blonde Gem then turned to the others and saw the Gems now staring wide-eyed at the mirror as it repeated the half-humans' laugher. Isaac's smile dropped and he started to get anxious. "It's...talking to them?" Pearl whispered incredulously as the others stood up. Terrified looks on their faces. "It shouldn't be able to do that. I-it should just be following orders..."

"Garnet, do something..." Amethyst muttered, scared.

Garnet walked towards the two Demigems. "Steven, Isaac," she said, her voice sounding much colder than it usually was.

The mirror kept laughing until upon seeing Garnet approaching. It stopped and let out a panicked cry. _"Nooooo!"_ This alerted the boys quite a bit. This, along with seeing how the Gem leader was towering over him and Steven, made Isaac started to get warry of her as she kneeled down.

"You should just give us back the mirror," Garnet said, practically ordering Steven as he still had it. "It will be safer where we can watch it."

"Yeah, let's bubble it!" Amethyst proclaimed, growling.

 _"Nooooo!"_ The mirror wailed and continued to cry by echoing itself repeatedly. _"Nooooo!"_

Isaac looked at the frightened mirror, having no idea what the hell was going on and why the Gems were afraid of it. The dark turn of events made him anxious, confused, and on edge, but more importantly, it made him apprehensive to let them get the mirror. He looked back at Garnet "Garnet, what the hell is going on?" He asked her sternly. "How will it be safer in a bubble?"

"It just will be," Garnet replied vaguely, as the low light of the room made her face seem mysterious and unnerving. "Now don't make me have to take it from you two."

Steven gasped and hugged the mirror close to him, as it continued to cry in fear. "It doesn't want to go with you," he fearfully said, backing up into Isaac's legs as they were backed against the door. "Don't you hear it screaming?" Steven looked at his guardian in fear.

"Steven, it's just a mirror, a tool. It can't want anything," Garnet said dismissively and tried reaching her hand towards the mirror.

But then, Isaac surprisingly moved Steven around and placed himself front. Standing boldly in between his friend and the surprised Gems, shocked by his act of defiance. He was done playing helpless. He wasn't going to let the Gems absconded the mirror and let rot away inside a bubble. "You're wrong." He said sternly. Garnet stood up to her full height, staring down at Isaac as he glared up at her. "Garnet, you once told me that being a Crystal Gem meaning protecting life on this planet! That mirror's alive! I don't know how, but it is! It has a personality and everything! You can't just lock it away."

"I can, and I _will_ ," Garnet asserted. "Now step aside and give me the mirror. Now."

"Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on. What is that mirror really? Why don't you want Steven to have it?"

Garnet gritted her teeth, getting impatience with Isaac. "You don't need to know that," she growled and tried to push him out of the way with her left hand. But Isaac stopped her by blocking with his right hand. Showing her that his gemstone was glowing. Pearl and Amethyst gasped seeing it.

"You want to answer that again?" Isaac asked, threateningly. "It didn't start glowing until a second ago."

"Isaac, step aside, or I'll make you," Garnet ordered in her own threatening voice. Isaac narrowed his eyes as Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst stared in panic and fear.

...

...

...

...

"No."

"I said, MOVE!" Garnet grabbed for Isaac's should to push him away. More memories flashed into Isaac's head, faster than any other time. As if on autopilot, Isaac grabbed her arm and twisted her wrist, then kicked her right knee out from under her with his super strength. Garnet grunted in pain, kneeling slightly to his height, giving Isaac a chance to shove his arm against her neck will pulling on her arm. Choking her slightly while pushing her head back.

Knocking her shades off her face. Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst gasped loudly in extreme surprise. Garnet's eyes glared hostilely at Isaac, and he met her glare with his own, as steam started coming off his arms and shoulders.

"Wha-Wha!" Steven stared at Isaac in shock and fear.

"Isaac!" Pearl gasped.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Amethyst yelled, grabbing her hair.

"It's called self-defense!" Isaac retorted, even though he was surprised by how fast he was able to counter Garnet. Guess the memories do come in handy. Garnet tried to punch Isaac with her free hand, but he swung the arm against her neck away, hitting her chin when his fist passed under it. He blocked the punch and palmed her in the face.

Garnet stubbed back, before Isaac delivered a kick to her stomach, sending her flying a few feet away and sliding on the floor. Pearl and Amethyst looked at the blonde with shock and concern, as their leader got up and glared at Isaac.

"If you're not going to tell us what's going on, then I know someone that will," Isaac said, grabbing Steven's arm. He then bolted out the door, dragging Steven along with him.

"I-I'm sorry!" Steven yelled back in distraught.

Pearl and Amethyst turned towards Garnet and slowly approached her. The Gem leader was still seething with barely controlled rage as she stood up, walked over to her shades and picked them up. After putting them back on, she clenched her fists.

"Those boys...are in _big_ trouble. Especially _Isaac_!" Garnet growled before storming out to hunt down the duo.

"Garnet, wait!" Pearl called fearfully as Amethyst and her followed after the Gem leader. "I'm sure he didn't understand what he was doing!"

* * *

"On my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Isaac panted as he ran for his life from the Gems while dragging Steven along with him. Both of them aptly terrified. Isaac couldn't believe he actually did that! Not only was his trust in the Crystal Gems straining, if not already broken completely, but now he was scared for the safety of Steven, the mirror, and himself. He knew that Steven would probably get a slap on the wrist, but there was no telling what they'll do to him, and the Gems will force them to turn over the mirror.

They ran around the side of the cliff the Temple was built into, and only when they were far enough away did he hide them behind a large rock. The two Demigems took a moment to catch their breath and mitigate some of their fear, but it was no good. That's when the anxiety kicked in.

"That's it, man! Game over, man! Game over!" Isaac exclaimed, grabbing his hair. "What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?!"

"I don't know!" Steven said, his face expressing dread, glancing down at the mirror in total loss. Isaac saw this and snatched it from Steven.

"What's their problem with you?!" He shouted at it quietly, shaking it in anger as he sweated bullets with Steven. "Why are they so scared of you!? WHO ARE YOU?!" Isaac was then taken aback when it it started to change, trying to say something to them. He kneeled down so that Steven could see with him.

The glass then started to glow brightly as the mirror started whirring a distorted and disjointed message. Showing several whirled and abstracted faces and images. _"Away from home- Let- Me- OUT!"_ It cried out for help.

"Let you out?" Isaac asked, shaking his head in confusion. "What are you talking about!"

"We don't understand!" Steven exclaimed.

"Isaac! Steven!" The two boys gasped when hearing Pearl calling from afar. They were running out of time. Isaac quickly pushed himself and Steven against the rock.

"Come on!" Steven pleaded with the mirror. "We want to help you! What can we do?"

The mirror whirled again and projected something completely different. Instead of using recorded scenes and responses, it relayed its own images. Isaac and Steven watched as it showed their silhouettes on the surface of the mirror. The simplistic scene showed them pulling a gemstone out of the back of the mirror. Freeing it.

Isaac's eyes widened before his eyes narrowed into a look of determination. Now he understood, and when he looked at Steven, the boy nodded. Isaac turned the mirror to its back and grabbed the lovely blue gemstone. He then began tugging on it, trying to pull it out of its prison. But normal force wasn't going to do it. As he pulled hard the gem, Steven noticed the water from the sea began creeping up onto the beach towards them. Forming the pattern of the mirror around Isaac under his feet. After deciding enough was enough, Isaac roared and used his super strength and successfully pulled it out.

The mirror shattered instantly the moment the gemstone was freed from it and the water under his feet flowed back into the ocean. Isaac looked at the gemstone and then to Steven. The friends smiled. Suddenly the gem started glowing in Isaac's hand, making them gasp in shock, before it levitated out of his hand and into mid-air.

It floated towards the shore, stopping just inches from it. It hovered above the sand for a moment as it glowed. The gemstone then glowed a bright light that illuminated the nightly beach. Isaac and Steven watched in silent awe as a physical, feminine body formed from the gem, before hair and a dress appeared out from it. The light faded, and the person hovered in the air for only a brief moment, before collapsing onto the sand on all fours.

To say that Isaac and Steven were bewildered would be an understatement. But when they saw her on the ground, they ran towards her. Steven stopped a few feet from her while Isaac cautiously approached the woman. Kneeling down next to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. This made her gasp and glance up at him and Steven. Both boys gasped.

The woman had a slim figure and was considerably tall, but not as tall as Isaac. About the same height as Pearl. She had cyan skin, cobalt blue chin-length hair with long bangs and fringe that covers her entire forehead. The blue gemstone in the mirror was now embedded in her back. She wore a backless blue halter crop top with an upward-facing navy triangle, which tied into a blue sash ribbon on the back of her shoulders. She also wore a flowing cobalt blue skirt, which was calf-length with a downward-facing navy triangle around the waist, and wore no shoes. She was very pretty and gracefully looking in her features, but what really startled the boys was that she had reflective eyes without pupils and appeared with a blue navy tone.

Isaac stared at his reflection in the eyes as she looked at him and Steven. That's when Isaac came to a realization that made him gasp. "...You're a Gem...?"

Even though her expression was weak and weary, she had a sense of overwhelming gratitude. "Yes...Thank you..." she said with soft sincerity. "You didn't—" Slowly, she tried to stand up, but struggled to keep herself up and started to collapse. But Isaac quickly caught her before she hit the ground, feeling how cold her skin was. He helped her stand up again as Steven walked next to him. The woman gave the two a small, warm smile. "You two...actually talked to me. You helped me! It's Steven...and Isaac, right?"

While still in awe at the Gem, the two boys smiled and nodded their heads. "Yeah, that's us," Isaac confirmed. "Who are you?

"I'm Lapis - Lapis Lazuli," the Gem, Lapis, said to them. "Are you really Crystal Gems?"

"Yeah!" Steven nodded with a bright smile.

"But you set me free," Lapis said in disbelief, much to the two Demigems confusions.

"But— Wha..." Steven question, not understanding what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?" Isaac warily asked her.

 ** _"STEVEN! ISAAC!"_** They flinched at the loud voice and turned around to see Gems rushing over to them. Upon seeing the frightened Lapis, they quickly summoned their weapons. Upon seeing his gemstone glow again, Isaac pushed Steven and Lapis behind him and placed himself in front of them. Glaring at the Gems.

"Back away from her, girls," He ordered them and summoned his sword. They stopped in their tracks, surprised by his action.

Knowing that he wouldn't have been able to summon his sword if there was no danger, and realizing that he believed them to be the threat, Garnet walked towards Isaac. "Isaac...stand down. We're not your enemies," she said sternly, while trying to defuse the situation and make him understand.

"That's not what the gem says," Isaac said, showing it glowing. Making her stop advancing as he glared at her, making it clear that he wasn't backing down. "I don't know what's going on, but what's going to happen now is that we're all going to drop our weapons, sit down, have a nice conversation, and play nice!"

"Isaac, it's not glowing for us."

Isaac's glare faded, as Steven walked next to him and the two looked at the Crystal Gems in confusion. "What? Then why was it..."

 ** _"You..."_** Isaac's eyes widened and his pupils shrank in horror. He and Steven turned around by the sound of crashing waves and water rushing as gasped when seeing Lapis glaring hatefully at the Gems, hands clenched into fists at her sides. They all then watched in awe as ocean water behind raised up and formed into a huge water-arm with a hand that shadowed over the Crystal Gems. The boys realized that it was Lapis, consumed by rage. "You three knew I was in there, _and you didn't do anything._ **_Did you even wonder who_ _I USED TO BE!"_**

Lapis slammed the water-arm she created down onto the Gems. Pearl and Amethyst managed to dodge by jumping out of the way, but Garnet was trapped underneath it. The force of the impact knocked Pearl and Amethyst aside.

"Steven! Isaac! Run!" Pearl cried out to the boys with concern.

But they had no intention of leaving and turned to the blue Gem. "Lapis, what are you doing?!" Isaac exclaimed, clenching his sword, alarmed by her incredible power.

"I'm Lapis Lazuli, and you can't keep me trapped here anymore!" Lapis declared fiercely, her voice dripping with power, pain, and rage.

Isaac's eyes widened as he looked back at the Gems. Did they really know about Lapis being trapped in that Gem? Why would they trap her here? Did they put her in the mirror? So many questions filled his head that he couldn't really move. Lapis raised her hand, commanding the water to lift once more. But this time, as if she was Moses parting the Red Sea to lead the Israelites to escape Egypt, Lapis leaving the parted the ocean in half, creating a path through it.

Isaac and Steven looked at her display of power in amazement, before Lapis said with a scowl, "They're not going to let us leave..."

"Leave?" Steven asked, confused.

Pearl and Amethyst then jumped towards them, weapons ready to attack Lapis. However, Lapis was quick to lash some of the ocean at them and push them to the ground. Buying herself some time. But, there was something she needed to ask. "Steven, Isaac, come with me," she offered.

"Where are you going?" Isaac asked with wide eyes.

Lapis turned her head to the night sky with a wistful expression. "Home."

"B-b-but... B-but I... Uh..." Steven stumbled over his words, sharing an anxious glance with Isaac. Neither of them knew what she was referring to, but even so, they didn't have to the heart say no. But they could go with her either. Wherever it was that Lapis was heading.

Seeing this, Lapis understood what their silence meant, and her expression fell. "Fine," she said crossly, dispelling the ocean path. Garnet managed to break free of the water-arm and punched it away. She then charged towards Isaac, Steven, and Lapis. The water Gem looked at the half-Gems with an expression that was split between anger and despair. "Don't trust them. Goodbye."

Without another word, Lapis turned and walked into the ocean, and created a huge wave that knocked Isaac, Steven, and Garnet back away. Completely drenching them. By they've finished couching out the water in their mouths and regained their breath and bearing, Isaac quickly sat up and glanced around to see that Lapis had disappeared. The Ocean was once again normal.

The three of them stood up as Pearl and Amethyst rushed to their side. Concerned for them, Pearl pulled the two boys into a tight, protective embrace. "Steven! Isaac! Are you two okay?"

"Yeah. we're fine," Steven said, but the reality was that they were still trying to both physically and mentally recover from what had just happened.

"So...that was another Gem?" Isaac asked, looking worried with Steven out across the ocean.

Pearl let out a long, remorseful sigh. "Yes, Isaac. It was..."

* * *

"...I'm grounded?!" Steven asked in total dismay. The next morning after the incident with Lapis, the Gems held a priority meeting in the beach house. In deep trouble, Isaac and Steven were standing in front of the Gems. Pearl and Amethyst looked angry at them, while Garnet likely was scolding them.

Pearl folded her arms and exclaimed, "Yes, you're grounded!"

"You disobeyed an order," Garney said.

"And now we're gonna _bury_ you 'til you've learned your lesson," Amethyst exclaimed, holding up a shovel.

"That's not even how grounding works!" Isaac exclaimed.

"Don't think you're not in trouble too, Isaac!" Pearl retorted crossly. "You not only disobey direct orders, but also attack Garnet and..."

"Whoa! Whoa! _She_ attacked _me_! It's called self-defense and it was after YOU what to take the mirror that you gave us in the first place!" Isaac said bitterly. "And besides, why are you so mad about this? Lapis was _trapped_ in that mirror. Who knows how she's been stuck in that thing, but it sounded like it was for a long time. We only did what we believed was the right thing by freeing her."

"Sure, freeing her was the right," Amethyst said sarcastically.

"Need we remind you that she attacked us with water," Pearl added caustically.

"Right, like you guys wouldn't fight back against someone attacking you!" Isaac countered. "How would you feel about someone trying to beat you up?!"

"That doesn't matter now," Garnet coldly said.

"Oh, I believe it does," Isaac said, glaring critically at the Gems. "You said that you found that mirror hundreds of years ago. Why didn't you even try and set Lapis free if you knew she was in there all this time?"

"It's not that simple, Isaac," Pearl said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's true that we knew that the mirror was powered by a Gem, but we didn't know whether or not she'd be dangerous if we let her out. It could have put us and possibly the world at risk."

"Isaac's right," Steven poke up, completely earnest in what he and his friend did was right. "If you guys had freed Lapis back then, then maybe you all could've been friends!"

"Yeah, no, Steven, like that would happen," Amethyst said with a frown.

"Why not?" Isaac asked, still looking harshly at them. "Why can't you get along with her?"

"There's no point in thinking about what could have been," Garnet said, quickly changing the subject and crossed her arms. "Right now we have a Gem has powerful as Lapis Lazuli out in the wild. The entire town could be in danger."

"But Lapis doesn't what to hurt anyone," Steven protested with an expression of concern. "All she wants is to go home. Why's that so bad?"

Pearl's expression turned to one of guilt and looked away. "Oh, Steven...it's not that simple...you see, boys, 'Home' for Gem...it-"

The white Gem was fortunately saved from providing answers when the door of the house suddenly burst opened. The Crystal Gems turned to look and saw a very exasperated and flustered Greg standing at the doorway, panting heavily.

"Dad?" Steven looked at his father in confusion with everyone else.

When the former rockstar caught his breath, covered in sweat, Greg addressed the team between heavy breaths. "Uh, you guys better come check this out," he said nervously. The Crystal Gems looked at one another before following Greg outside. However, the moment they walked out of the house, it only took them a second to see what was wrong.

The entire ocean was gone. The glistering water that made up the vast ocean that made up most of the earth had vanished completely. Leaving nothing but a vast desert ocean floor that was littered with various boats and ships stranded.

The Gems and Greg rushed down from the house and ran over to where the citizens of Beach City were gathered and murmuring worriedly. All of them gazing out at the waterless ocean desert in disbelief, growing more concern. The Gems were just as stunned by what they saw. "Holy shit," Isaac whispered, completely bewildered. "What happened?"

"That's what we're all trying to figure out," said Connie as she walked over to the team.

"Connie!" Steven exclaimed.

"HEY, IT'S THOSE MAGICAL LADIES!" Mayor Dewey yelled into a megaphone after spotting the Gem. He looked to have been panicking with his hair disheveled and sweating bullets, drenching his armpits. He marched over to them and yelled hotly at Garnet. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!"

"The ocean is gone, obviously," Garnet said, seemingly unfazed that the mayor was in her personal space yelling at her.

"THAT'S RIGHT. NOW IT'S JUST A DEREST. NO ONE WANTS TO TAKE A VACATION TO... DESERT CITY! AWW, WE'RE GONNA LOSE ALL OUR SUMMER BUSINESS!" Dewey dropped to his knees in distraught. Isaac started to get annoyed with the mayor. Dewey was like that sleazy mayor from _Jaws_ that would have ignored all warning about a dangerous shark and keep the beach open unit it's too late.

Now that he thought about it, Isaac was more than certain that's what Dewey would've been.

"And all the beach babes!" Lars wailed as Sadie rolled her eyes at him.

"Who's gonna buy my fries?" Fryman asked worriedly

"And my pizza!" Yell an angry man named Kofi Pizza, the father of Jenny, one of the teenagers Steven befriended.

"Who's gonna have fun at Funland?" yelled the owner of Funland, Mr. Smiley, who wasn't smiling.

Mayor Dewey got up again and began rigidly shouting Garnet again through the megaphone. "AS MAYOR, I DEMAND YOU EXPLAIN THIS IMMEDIATE-!" Isaac quickly cut him off by grabbing the megaphone and crushed it between his hands, causing Dewey to shrink away from him fearfully.

"Thank," Garnet said to him.

"No problem, but seriously, how did this happen," Isaac asked, much more politely to the leader.

"It was Lapis Lazuli," Garnet explained.

"Wait, Lapis really did all of this?" Isaac asked, gesturing to the ocean desert.

"I'm afraid it's the only logical probability," Pearl mused, projecting a hologram of Lapis with her gemstone. Beach City's citizens murmured in silent amazement when seeing this. "Given her powers to manipulate water, and how she acted, it could only have been her."

"But why?" Steven asked. "She's a Gem, just like us."

Pearl exchanged a hesitant glance with her fellow Gems when hearing this. However, they didn't have the heart to tell him or Isaac the complete truth. "There's a lot you don't know about Gems, Steven," she said sourly, looking away while continuing to show the projection of Lapis.

* * *

After leaving the beach and returning back to the beach house, the Gems were back inside with Greg and Connie so that they could figure out what was their next plan of action. However, outside on the patio, Isaac and Steven leaned over the rail as they stared out into the distance of the ocean desert. There was no more trying to reason with the stubborn Gems that Lapis wasn't the monster they believed her to be, as they were the ones that interacted with her and not them. All they could do was watch as Mayor Dewey pathetically pulled out a gardening hose and sprayed water on the sand in a desperate attempt to refill the empty ocean.

Isaac let out a sigh and rubbed his face. "What a mess," he said with a worried frown. "And I'm responsible for it."

"Hey, don't think like that," Steven said, to which his friend looked down at him. "I mean, we're the ones that let Lapis out. We didn't know she would take the ocean, but there must be a reason for it, right?"

It sounded more as if Steven was trying to convince himself, but not even he was so sure. Isaac felt the same way and shook his head. "I don't know, kid, but what I do know is what needs to be done." He pushed away from the rail and kneeled down in front of Steven. "Listen, there's no way the Gems are going to try and resolve this peacefully, some I'm going to head out there and try and reason with Lapis."

"What!?" Steven looked at him in disbelief. "But you can do it on your own!"

"We don't have any other opinions. If I can just talk to her and calm her down, then maybe I can get her to bring back the ocean."

Steven looked apprehensive, before looking at Isaac in the eyes. "Then I'm coming with you."

"No, Steven, I can't ask you to do that. Just stay here with your family," Isaac tried to reassure him and stood up.

"That's why I have to go with you, Isaac. If I let you go on your own, then I am leaving family. You're family!" Steven suddenly exclaimed. Isaac gasped and looked at the young Gem with a surprised expression on his face. "Isaac, you're more than just my best friend. You're like my brother. I didn't say it before because I knew that we aren't related. But that was wrong of me. We are brothers. You're not alone anymore. You're apart of the Crystal Gems family."

Isaac looked down at Steven with a shocked expression as he stared at him in shock. The reason his family name was named Infinite was because his father was orphaned when he was a baby. His parents then ran off and seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. Isaac's father said that their last name said that there was an infinite amount of possibilities for where they came from and who they could become.

After his dad died, he was all alone, until he met the Gems. Met Steven. Isaac felt his eyes start to tear up a bit, before he closed his eyes and reigned his emotions. He chuckled, wiped his eyes, and smiled at Steven. "Then let's do it."

The two walked into the house and as the adults in the room were too engrossed in their own debate about what to do with, they didn't notice the boys as they started packing for the long trip across the dried-up ocean. Steven packed his cheeseburger backpack and Isaac packed his taco backpack.

"How could I have known the Gem contained in that mirror would be so powerful?" Pearl said fretfully as the boy finished their packing and walked towards the door. But while the Gems didn't notice them, Connie and Greg did, as the Demigems passed by them.

"Where are you guys going?" Connie asked, gaining the attention of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Hesitantly, Isaac and Steven turned around and faced the others as they looked at them curiously.

"Look, I know we've screwed up by letting Lapis out of that mirror, but believe us when we say that it's not something that we regret," Isaac said with firm resolve. "But it's because we set her free that it's our fault the ocean is gone. That's why we're going out there and fix what we've done to Beach City- the world possibly."

"We're gonna bring the ocean back or get really thirsty trying," Steven proclaimed with just as much determination.

For a moment, the duo was met with silence from the others as they stared at them. Thinking that they weren't going to stop them and that they weren't going to help them, Isaac turned to the door to open it with Steven following him. "Wait up, boys," said a certain former rock star that placed his hand on Steven's shoulder. The two Demigems turned around to see Greg looking at them with a sincere smile. "I'm coming with you."

"I want to help, too!" Connie eagerly said, walking over to the hybrids. "Also, I feel weird being in your house if you're not here."

Lion then appeared from behind and placing his paw on Steven's head. Growling in agreement, which surprised Greg, who never actually met the giant pink feline.

They then heard Pearl clear her throat and turned to her to see her broadly grinning with her arms crossed. "Clearly, we're coming too."

"You're un-grounded, by the way," Garnet said, impressed with the boys' determination and commitment.

Amethyst jumped on the kitchen counter. "WHOO-HOO! Road trip!" She cheered with excitement. Isaac looked at the Gems with wide eyes for a moment, surprised by how quickly they were willing to trust them and aid them was quite reassuring. Especially after how sour things had gone between them the previous night. This was a showing that they trusted him and Steven, but believe in not only the young Gem, but also Isaac, whose still very new to them. This showed him that they really did consider him one of them.

"Alright then. The plan is to go to wherever Lapis is taking the water and ask her to return it," Isaac told them as the others all listened. "She'll listen to us. She trusts me and Steven."

"But what if she wouldn't listen?" Connie asked.

Isaac and Steven exchanged an uneasy glance. They couldn't rule out the possibility that Lapis would attack them on sight. They didn't know why she was taking the ocean, and even though they were friends with her, there's no telling if she'll still consider them to be hostile and treat them as such. "Then we'll do what we must," Isaac hesitantly said.

* * *

Unshaven and distressed Mayor Dewey who was still spraying water on the sand with the hose and had broken down and started crying his eyes out. Sobbing about how the town was going to lose their summer dollars when tourist season comes along. So he didn't see the group passing him. Heading off into the deserted ocean, with the Gems riding in Greg's Van, and Isaac, Steven, and Connie riding on Lion's back.

Lion ran in front of the van with Steven and Connie sitting in front of Isaac. Greg, of course, was driving his van and Garnet was sitting in the passenger's seat. Leaving Pearl and Amethyst to ride in the cramped back with most of the former rock star's things.

"How about some tunes?" Greg asked, pulling out a CD and putting it into the music player. "This was one of Rose's favorites." You'd think that Rose Quartz would have liked something more to what she'd been played up to be like, but instead loud rock music began to play, jamming out of the stereo throughout the vehicle. Amethyst chuckled while Pearl chuckled uncomfortably, neither of them a fan of the music. Greg turned his head and glanced over at the leader of the Gems. "So what do you think, Garnet?"

Garnet glared uncomfortably for a moment, before making her option clear.

By kicking the van door open and jumping out of the van, rolling on the ground.

* * *

The journey to find Lapis took all day and well into the night as the group continued traveling through the deserted ocean. The journey took them past the abyssal zone of the ocean. Places that would never have been able to have been reached by humans. As they went further out into the desert that was once the Atlantic ocean and as the sun started to set, they began to see a blue tower that reached high above the land and broke through the clouds surrounding it. They used this as a beacon, a waypoint for the destination they sought.

As the tower started to grow taller and more intimidating, the closer they were getting and started to slow down. Lion was now walking alongside the van as it was going slower. On top of the vehicle's roof lied Garnet, while Pearl took to the driver seat and drove, while Greg and Amethyst slept and snored in the back of the van. Isaac and Steven were still awake, riding on Lion, but Connie was fast asleep on Steven's back, with her arms wrapped around him. Isaac had his arms on both sides of the kids, securing them as he gripped Lion's mane.

The Demigems were quiet through the journey as they drew closer to the tower. The weight of the situation grew heavier. They still felt rather guilty over the ocean being taken, but they started to question whether or not their decision to set Lapis free was really the right thing to have done. Their compassion and desire to help their newfound friend caused a butterfly effect that the world was now suffering because of it.

Still anxious, Steven broke the silence and voiced his concerns to Isaac. "Isaac...do you really think it was the right thing to let Lapis out?"

Isaac was silent for a moment. "I don't know," he admitted, shaking his. "My head was telling me that there's something wrong, but in my heart, I couldn't let the mirror- Lapis, suffer anymore."

"You boys did what you believed was the right thing." Steven and Isaac looked up to see Garnet looking down at them from the roof of the van, with Pearl rolling down the window. The Gem leader's expression was unreadable, but it looked as though she was a little ashamed over how she and the others handled things with the two Demigems. "We're sorry. We should have told you what we knew."

"I can't believe Lapis would do this," Steven said. "Gems shouldn't fight each other."

Pearl glanced over at the two hybrids and closed her eyes. It was finally time to start providing them with some much-needed answers. She opened her eyes and said, "We're always fighting Gems, actually."

Steven and Isaac gasped in shock. "What?!"

"What're you talking about?" Isaac asked with alarming concern. "When? I thought you guys and my mother were the only Gems on the planet. Why would you be fighting them?"

"It's...more complicated than you think..." Pearl said.

"I could try and understand if you explain it," he said.

Pearl frowning uncomfortably. "Oh, how do I put this? Just like humans, all Gems aren't necessarily... good."

Amethyst suddenly leaned forward from the back, having been awakened from her nap by their conversation. "All those monsters we fight used to be just like us!" She explained, before turning to Pearl. "Right, Pearl?"

Pearl sighed in remorse. "Yes. But they've become corrupted and broken," she said

"Corrupted? What does that even mean?" Isaac asked shaking his head.

"It's almost impossible to describe, but think of it like this: It's as if they're minds have been damaged beyond repair. The fabric of their minds being tore. The bodies of Gems are mental projections, the bodies of corrupted Gems are a reflection of how damaged their minds are. Turning them into monsters. That's why we have to take care of them, subdue them, contain them. It's the best we can do for them, for now."

Isaac took a moment to process this. All this time, ever since he was able to summon his mother's weapon and fight, he thought that the monsters that came after him were just monsters. But now that he knew that they were Gems they were mentally unwell really hit him.

"Okay, I get why you wouldn't tell Steven or me." Isaac nodded, understanding why they wouldn't tell them. "But if every monster we've fought was a Gem, how did they get corrupted?"

There was silence from Pearl and Amethyst, as they glanced uneasily at each other. "It's a long story," Garnet said, answering vaguely.

Isaac sighed in annoyance. It was just another way of saying that the Gems were going to keep it a secret from him. All the time that he's spent with them he was sure that they were truthful with him on anything he asked about them. That he'd learn all there was to know about them, but it seems he was wrong. "Just what else are you guys keeping from us?" He asked disgruntledly.

There was no answer from the Gems. Isaac looked away and forward. It was clear to him that they didn't want to tell him or Steven what they were hiding, and he could respect that. They each had personal moments in their lives that they didn't want to talk about and keep secret. However, the whole reason he came to Beach City was to find answers.

"What about my mother?" Isaac asked, but he didn't get the chance to see them flinch when there was bright glowing light in front of them. They looked and saw that they've arrived.

The giant glowing blue structure, made entirely out of the ocean, that stood before them was even more magnificent and imposing up close. The glow came from the water glistening in the moonlight as it reached high into the sky. Dark clouds swirled around it, giving it an ominous appearance. As they looked at it, they saw the water moving upwards.

Having been awakened Connie looked up at the tower in equal amazement. "That's some... magical destiny stuff right there," she said, taking off her glasses.

"Guys, I just had the best idea for an album cover," Greg said, looking up at the tower in equal amazement.

The group approached closer to the structure before stopping. Garnet then got off the roof, then the Gems and Greg got out of the van to stand before the tower. Isaac and the kids unmounted Lion, and they all cautiously approached the tower. "This is it. Lapis Lazuli is here," Garnet said.

"I don't understand," Pearl said, shaking her head. "What does she want with the ocean?"

The kids stood with Isaac and the three of them were astonished to see various marine life swimming inside the water tower. From whales, to various fish, to stingrays, and turtles. Everything from the biggest mammal to the smallest crustation. "Whoa. Look at all this. It's- it's just like a giant aquarium," Connie exclaimed, stepping a bit closer.

"So, how do we get Lapis' attention," Isaac asked.

 **"You shouldn't be here!"** Thundered the voice of the blue Gem in question. Coming from high atop the tower, having sensed them.

Glaring up at the tower, Isaac approached it and took in a deep breath. "LAPIS LAZULI!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, assuming she could hear him. "IT'S US, ISAAC, AND STEVEN!"

"Lapis, please! We've come to talk to you!" Steven added, stepping next to his brother.

For a moment, there was silence, until the water near the base of the tower sloshed and rippled, before forming a giant, aquatic version of Lapis Lazuli's face on its wall. **"Go away!"** she ordered the Demigems, glaring down at them. **"Before I make you."**

"Not until you tell us what you're doing with the ocean," Isaac said.

 **"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm stretching it far enough to get me back home! You can't stop me!"**

"But we're beach-summer-fun buddies!" Steven exclaimed

Lapis' face suddenly shifted and reverted back to Isaac's face that the mirror recorded and screamed in his voice. **_"_ _NOOOOO!"_**

Steven & Connie gasped as Isaac tried again. "Lapis, what about us setting you free? Doesn't that mean anything you?"

Lapis formed her own face again and got closer to Isaac, startling him a bit. **"No, it doesn't! Not after being trapped in that mirror for _centuries_! The fact I was used by everyone! All of you Crystal Gems...you're all just the same! You don't care about anyone or anything but this _worthless_ _rock_ _of a planet_!"**

Amethyst and Pearl growled angrily when hearing this and were ready to attack when Garnet put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Easy," she said, wanting the boys to handle this.

"What do you mean? We're all Gems, right? Just let us help you," Steven begged, confused by what Lapis was saying.

 **"You don't understand. Just leave me alone..."** Lapis' anxious face then disappeared into the water tower.

"We're not leaving, Lapis. Not until you give us back our ocean!" Isaac slammed his fist on the wall of the water tower. His strength made the structure rumble as large ripples formed with each hit on the water.

There was silence for a moment, and everyone watched and waited.

 **"Isaac..."** Lapis said, sounding sad.

But the ocean Gem lashed out, and out of nowhere, an arm extended from the water tower and grabbed Isaac roughly by his neck. Taking the son of Onyx off guard and he grabbed the arm to get it to let go as his gemstone started glowing. Then, emerging from the tower, came the owner of the arm: a water clone of Isaac.

" _ **I SAID..."**_ Lapis said, speaking through the clone as it reared back its fist. **_"LEAVE ME ALONE!_**

The clone punched Isaac in the stomach, pushing him back with a water-arm attack that was was a heavy stream of water. Fortunately for him, Garnet safely caught the blonde Gem as he was flung towards her.

However, it wasn't over and stepping out from the water structure came water clones of the Gems. All of them glaring at the Crystal Gems.

"Okay, now I'm, pissed," Isaac said, standing up. He got to his feet and took a fighting stance with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl.

"Greg, kids, you stay behind us. We'll handle this," Pearl ordered, as her gemstone glowed

"Sounds good to me!" Greg fretfully exclaimed, hiding behind a nearby rock. Steven, Connie, and Lion retreated and stood behind the Gems.

With bold gracefulness, the Gems summoned each of their weapons. Isaac did the same, and summoned two katanas. Their water clones did the same, and proceed to mirror their real counterparts and summoned their liquid weapons. They were prepared for battle against the originals, and they weren't going down so easily.

"Ruh-oh," Amethyst said.

"Stand together. Don't let them separate us," Garnet commanded, only to get punched by Water Garnet. Sent flying backwards into the ground. She quickly got up as Water Garnet chased after her. She cracked her neck twice, and engaged in a fistfight with Water Garnet, creating a giant crater. Each fighter sending out a barrage of punches that landed evenly against each other. It was a stalemate until Garnet saw an opening and took it. Punching Water Garnet in the head, splattering it. But just as she believed that the battle was over, the head quickly reforms though, and Water Garnet punched Garnet into a large rock.

As Garnet lept away from the rock, Amethyst used her whip to grab the rock and sling it at Water Amethyst, who effortlessly dodged it. The short Gem kept slinging nearby rocks at the water clone, who continuously dodges them by bending out of shape. "Aw, come on!" Amethyst complained, stomping her foot. Water Amethyst then grabbed her with her whip and flailed her away. She screamed before being slammed into the ground. She groaned before shapeshifting. "Well, as long as we're playing fair..." she said, turning into her Purple Puma persona and charged at Water Amethyst. Leaping into the air to land a heavy body slam down on the clone

Meanwhile, Pearl spared off with her water clone. Blocking an attack from Water Pearl. She then swung at the clone, to which it dodged. The white Gem then spun her spear around and managed to slice Water Peal in half. She laughed victoriously, until the two halves quickly reformed into two Water Pearls. Pearl sighed and summoned another spear. "I hate fighting me."

At the same time, Isaac stood in front of his water clone with his two swords ready. "Lapis, I don't wanna do this," he said, pleading to her one last time.

 _ **"I'm sorry, but no!"**_ Lapis said through Water Isaac before the clone charged at the Demigem. It jumped at him, swiping both swords, but Isaac jumped out of the way to the right. The two then started exchanging slashes and parrying each other's attacks. The clone then jumped back and changed the katana into a large, double-bladed sword and threw it at Isaac. Isaac did the same and threw his double-bladed sword. The weapons hit each other in the air and bounced off one another, before disappearing.

With one sword in their hands, both Isaacs charged and started attacking and blocking each other. Sometimes one attacking and blocking before the roles were reversed, making it a very even match.

Isaac swung down to slice the clone in haft, but Water Isaac grabbed his tattooed wrist and stopped him. It then swung at his head, until Isaac duck down, and yanked his hand out of the watery grip. He ran from Lapis' clone before it jumped into the air and came down to land a heavy attack on him. But Isaac rolled out of the way, stopping to look back at Water Isaac, who was kneeling with its sword's edge on the ground. Water Isaac then stood up and glared at the real one.

It then charged at him, before Isaac jumped out of the way. Water Isaac slashed across a large blunder he was previously standing behind. The boulder exploded into a hundred pieces, knocking Isaac away flying through the air, before violently rolling along the ground. As he came to a stop, he grunted in pain to stand up again, only for Water Isaac to appear before him and slash at his chest.

Isaac grunted in pain when its water blade cut through his shirt and across his chest. He retaliated by slicing Water Isaac diagonally and jumped away. The water clone wasn't injured for too long, and put itself back together.

 **"You don't have to do this, Isaac!"** Lapis said through the clone. Isaac took a moment to look at his chest as it bled. However, the cut itself wasn't very deep at all. Just broke through the skin. It healed quickly before Isaac looked up at Water Isaac with wide eyes **"Please, just walk away and go home."**

"No," Isaac said, gripping his sword harder with both hands and widening his stance.

 **"Then you're not gonna like how this turns out."**

"I don't want to hurt you, Lapis," Isaac said, before placing his hand on the cut in the shirt she left. The clone started advancing towards him. "And I know you don't want to hurt me."

Water Isaac stopped. Steven, Connie, Greg, and Lion were behind the blonde Gem with his back facing them as he tried one more time to talk with Lapis.

"Lapis, please. I know that you want to leave and go home, but it doesn't have to be like this. Just like you have a home, Earth is our home, so think of all the damage you'll be doing to it. We can't just sit back a let you do this." He said, firmly but also sympathetically. "Maybe we can help you. We could give you something that'll get you off the planet. You don't need to do this. Please, let us help us."

Lapis was silent for a moment. **"I'm sorry...but I can't wait any longer."**

Water Isaac rushed at him again and the two started trading attacks again. This time, Lapis was much more violent and faster. Isaac blocked another attack before Water Isaac grabbed his arm. Isaac couldn't stop the clone as it swung him around, before he was thrown away.

Steven and Connie watched in horror as Isaac was sent flying towards them. Going over their heads, before slamming hard into the side of Greg's van.

"Oh no, not the van!" Greg exclaimed in dismay, running towards his mobile home.

Then Lion rushed towards Water Isaac and started emitting several magical roars at it. But the clone effortlessly slitter out of the way every time. After seeing his brother being hurt and his pet fighting for him, Steven raised his water gun he'd brought along. "Revenge!" He shouted

"Revenge!" Connie yelled with him and two charged towards Water Isaac. As Lion continued shouting at the clone, Steven shot at it with the water gun while Connie hurled a small rock at the clone. These attacks did nothing to it, and Water Isaac transformed it katana into a war hammer. With lightning-fast speed, it swung up into Lion's chin, sending him flying into the air before landing on the roof of the van. Much to Greg's dismay.

Water Isaac then turned his attention back to Steven and Connie, and the two kids looked at it in fear. It was about to take both of their lives with a swing to their heads when Isaac suddenly jumped in front and grabbed the handle of the hammer. Using his super strength, he pushed against Lapis as her clone of him pushed against him with increasing force. Isaac growled and grunted through his teeth as he struggled to hold it together. Steam was no coming off his arms, and there were small flames starting to ignite. His hands started to turn black and the large black veins started to sprout from his mother's gem. Isaac tried to control the Hellfire and make it stop, but as he struggled against his clone, it was becoming or difficult.

Luckily, he didn't struggle for long, Greg's came out of nowhere and ran Water Isaac over with his van.

Isaac fell on his hands and knees, panting heavily as the steam and flames disappeared and the black on his hands retreated. "Isaac!" Steven and Connie yelled, rushing over to see if he was still okay.

"I'm fine," Isaac said, standing up again.

Greg popped his hand out from the driver's door window and looked at the young and two kids. "Is this a _NORMAL_ magical mission for you?!" He asked his son with anxiousness. "'Cause I'm not so sure how comfortable I am with you going on these any-" He got interrupted when Greg's van was suddenly blasted upwards and away by Water Steven underneath, along with the former rock star still inside.

"Dad!" Steven cried out as the three of them watched the van soar into the air, before crashing a distance away from them. They ran to the van, and Isaac grabbed the handle of the driver's side door and opened it, letting Greg crawl out of it, coughing and groaning. "Dad! Dad! Are you okay?"

Isaac pulled Greg out of the van and looked him, before noticing his leg was starting to turn purple and was bent out of shape. "Ugh, I think my leg's broken," Greg groaned. "See, this is why we wear seatbelts, kids.

Steven turned around and noticed that Water Isaac was approaching them. Isaac saw this and was about to get up. He was about to attack again, but he was stopped when Steven held out his hand. Isaac looked down to see the young Gem glaring at Water Isaac. Steven looked up at Isaac with a determined expression. After just sitting back and letting everyone else fight this battle, he was done just sitting back and letting everyone get hurt. And he was going to put an end to the battle.

Isaac was hesitant at first, but nodded and let Steven do what he had to. Steven turned back to Water Isaac. "Lapis, we don't want to fight anymore," he said resolutely and exasperated.

Lapis didn't care and Water Isaac rushed towards him. Isaac was about to jump in an block the attack from reaching Steven, until he noticed that the young Gem's gemstone started to glow.

"I said..." Steven instinctively held out his left arm as his gem glowed brighter. "I DON'T WANNA FIGHT!"

And then it happened. In a brilliant flash of light, Steven successfully summoned Rose's shield on his arm and blocks the attacked from the clone's sword. Disbanding the water that made up the blade. The impact caused a massive sound wave, resulting in all the water clones to dispel in the reverberation. Everyone around him stared at the young boy in astonishment as Steven dispelled his shield. Metallic clanging noises were made form folding in on itself before disappearing.

"He did it," Isaac whispered in astonishment before Steven started walking towards the tower. Isaac wasn't far behind. The two Demigems walked together as the others watched them. They both stopped in front of the structure and nodded to each other.

"Lapis!" Steven called up, looking up at the unseeable top of the tower. "We're coming up to see you. ...So please don't drown us."

"Wait, Steven!" Connie gasped.

"Isaac!" Pearl exclaimed without thinking.

But neither of the two paid attention as they grabbed hands, took in deep breaths, and boldly jumped into the water tower. Moment, all they did was float freely in the water. However, perhaps showing she was finally going to do things their way, Lapis made a large solid water hand inside the ocean tower and placed it under them. When their feets touched it, Isaac and Steven were lifted quickly up through the water towards the top of the tower. They traveled for miles and miles upwards, passing the clouds and still going up. Ascending to the outer atmosphere of Earth where the clear, star-filled night sky was waiting for them. They looked out of the tower and saw the curve of the planet.

When they arrived at the top, they broke through the water, but Lapis kept the boy encased in a water bubble. Trapping them and immobilizing them. But she did let only their heads free to allow them to breathe. The air was thinner, making it difficult to breathe, but they were focused on one thing.

In front of them stood Lapis Lazuli, glaring firmly and fiercely at them as each of their faces reflected in one of her two. "What are you two doing here?" She demanded from her two former friends in a threateningly, cold tone.

" _Us?_ What about what _you_? You stole in the entire ocean and then attacked us!" Isaac retorted. "Lapis is INSANE! You have to know this is wrong, right?"

Lapis looked away with a slight bit of guilt in her expression. "You don't understand..."

"Then help us understand!"

"Can't we work this out?" Steven asked earnestly. "We Gems should be friends. Whoa!"

Lapis abruptly pulled Steven and Isaac's bubble forward, bringing them closer to her. "Don't you know _anything_?" She asked harshly. "Your friends, they don't really care about other Gems. All they care about is the Earth. But I never believed in this place..."

She turned around and gazed up into space. Looking towards a single bright, brilliantly shining star far off in some other solar system in likely another galaxy. Lapis walked away from the boys, continuing to stare at that one star, before letting her control the bubble holding them go, freeing them and dropping them down onto the surface. Isaac and Steven looked at her in confusion, but they walked over and joined the lonely blue Gem as she sat down. Steven sat down next her on her left, and Isaac sat down on her right.

"I just..." Lapis's voice became more gentle and mournful as she closed her eyes and looked down."...want to go home..."

Isaac looked sadly at her. Gem were aliens, so it was likely that she came to earth a really long time ago and then got trapped in the mirror. But now that she was free, like a Gem E.T. all she wanted was to go home. "Lapis..." he said, his voice soft and understanding. "In a way, I know what it's like to have no home. After dad died, I was lost with no real home. But then I came to Beach City, met Steven and the Crystal Gems, and I had a home again. A family. That's why we're here. You took the ocean away, and without it, our home will die."

"I'm only using the ocean because my gem is cracked," Lapis said defensively, trying to reason with them."If I just stretch it far enough..." She trailed off, looking back up at the star before sighing in defeat. "What am I doing? This is never going to work..."

There was a long silent pause between the four of them. Isaac and Steven felt the unmistakable grief that Lapis emanated as she sat there in silence. None of them knew what the do. This one last-ditch effort to escape the planet and go home as failed, and all of her malice was gone. And with it her hope. She was now just a lost Gem, released after thousands of years from a prison, and now was homesick to the point she was willing to do anything to return to.

Isaac reached out his hand to place it on her shoulder when he spotted her gemstone. He leaned back and looked at it. Clear as day, it still had that same crack from when she was in the mirror. "Wait, that's it! Why didn't I think of this before!" Isaac shouted with happiness. "There is a way to fix your cracked Gem!"

"There is?" Lapis asked, looking up at him with hope in her eyes.

Steven gasped as he smiled widely. "I can fix your gem! I have healing powers!" He proclaimed

"Wait, you have healing powers?" Lapis incredulously asked the young Gem.

"I know, right?" Steven replied with a big grin.

"Oh, what should I..." Lapis turned around to have her gemstone face him.

"Oh, uh, sorry. This might be a little weird," Steven said awkwardly.

"What?"

"Look, just, hold still, and..." Isaac trailed off as Steven licked his hand, covering it in saliva. With his healing saliva sparkling on his palm, Steven held it up for a moment, before patting it on Lapis' gem. This caused the blue Gem to shudder from the strange sensation. Isaac walked around her to stand with Steven as the two stared at the cracked gem.

A brief moment passes, and nothing happened.

But then the gemstone started to glow in a luminous blue light. The boys watched in awe as Lapis' gem began to restore itself to its former glory. And then it was completely healed and the cracks closed, a pair of water-wings sprouted from her back. Like watching an angel, they were wide, graceful, and beautiful to behold.

Overwhelmed with joy, she turned to the boys and smiled in bliss. Opening her eyes to show her royal blue pupils and irises had returned back to normal. "Thank you, Steven!" She exclaimed happily. "Thank you both..."

Isaac was speechless as Steven wiped his hand on his pants. "No prob, Bob," he said quietly.

Lapis stared at him for a moment, not getting what he meant. "It's Lapis."

"It's a figure of speech," Isaac explained to stop another awkward moment.

"Oh," the blue Gem said, but she still didn't get it. Lapis turned towards space once more, taking another glance over her shoulder at the boys. "Okay. Bye."

And without saying any more, Lapis took off with a single flap of her wings. Flies off into space as Isaac and Steven watched from her tower as she grew smaller and smaller, until finally disappearing into the infinite blackness of space. A bittersweet ending, but one that they were happy with. The mission was a success; they've helped their friend, and in doing so saved their home. They had saved the earth.

"Wait, if Lapis isn't here, how's the tower still standing?" Steven suddenly asked. Isaac's eyes widened for a moment. Suddenly the water tower started to rumble violently and shifted beneath their feet. As it turned out, it was freed of Lapis' control, and the water tower started to crumble and collapse.

* * *

Down below at the foot of the tower, the Gems, Greg, Connie and Lion watched as the water tower collapse around them. Cubes of waters splashing down all around them.

"The whole tower's coming down!" Garnet exclaimed as she and Pearl help up Greg.

"What about the boys?!" Greg exclaimed with concern. Upon hearing this, Lion and Connie looked at each other with determination and nodded at each other.

* * *

As the tower completely fell apart, Isaac and Steven began to fall down towards the earth, alongside the crumbling pieces of the structure. They screamed in terror while falling, and Isaac grabbed Steven and the two clung onto each other. Isaac then turned them around so that he was on the bottom. It was futile, but it was the only thing that he could do to protect the boy he's come to call a brother.

However, luck would be on there side, as well as their friends. Emerge from a portal came Connie and Lion to the rescue. Oh yeah, it turns that the beast is able to create temporal portals. They appeared alongside descending duo, surprising them.

"Grab my hand!" Connie shouted, stretching out her hand out to them.

While still holding each other, Isaac and Steven looked at one another. As if psychically linked and knowing what they were thinking without even explaining it, Isaac grabbed Steven's hand and then swung the boy out at Connie. With the extra arm length, Steven and Connie's hand grabbed each other, and the girl pulled them to safety onto Lion with her.

A second later, Isaac, Steven, Connie, and Lion emerged back on safe ground through another portal. The Gems and Greg were relieved to see them safe, but then the water tower splashed collapsed all around on the group, seemingly burying them underwater.

* * *

As dawn appeared over Beach City, and Mayor Dewey was still crying and trying in vain to fill the entire ocean by spraying water onto the sand. His desperation was so great that he had actually stayed the entire night on the beach. He barely noticed the water began flooding back and a wave washed over him in the shallows.

The ocean began to flow back to Beach City, restoring to its former self all around the world. And the people of Beach City came out of their homes and shops to see it in amazement. In front of the Temple, Greg's damaged van then emerged from the sea. Rolling out of the water while encased in Steven's bubble shield as they drove it through beneath the waves. Once they were on dry land, Steven released the bubble and let out a long sigh of relief.

"That's how you do it!" Amethyst said, giving the young Gem a playful punch.

The kids, Isaac, and the purple Gem began laughing in rejoice, until Greg's already damaged van finally called it quits and fell apart even more. The wheels gave way, the hood popped open, and smoke billowed out from it.

Pearl looked down at the broken steering wheel came out. She chuckled nervously and looked at a distressed Greg. "Well, what's that thing you always say about the pork chops and the hot dogs?" Greg just looked at her horror.

"Look!" Connie exclaimed after Garnet helped everyone get down off the roof. Isaac and Steven turned around and saw the citizens of Beach City all run towards the group cheering and laughing. Ecstatic that the ocean returned. Right before they could greet them Mayor Dewey tackled Steven and embraced him, as the citizens cheer them on. Connie laughed in joy and Amethyst hugged Lion. Greg is crying in front of his broken van and Yellowtail hands him a handkerchief to comfort him.

Isaac managed to break away from the crowd, chuckling a little at how happy they all were. But it was Steven that saved the town, so he deserved most of the credit. He was then suddenly hugged by Pearl, who ran over to him. Isaac hesitated at first, but smiled and hugged her back wholeheartedly.

"I'm happy you're safe, Isaac," she said through closed eyes, smiling happily. After a few seconds, they let go of each other and stared happily at him. Just like his mother, Onyx's son had made a big impact on all of the Crystal Gems, including her. However, Isaac was pulled away from her by the Cool Kids to rejoin the celebration. Isaac didn't resist and laughed as the crowd cheered for him too.

Pearl giggled a little as she watched him being dragged away. "So, you two seem to be getting along," said Garnet as she walked up to stand beside her.

"I-It's nothing," Pearl said, studdering a bit in her denial. However, this made Garnet chuckle a bit in amusement. Pearl looked at her with a confused frown. "What's so funny?"

"You'll find out eventually," Garnet smirked, adjusting her shades. However, as the people of Beach City cheered for the Demigems, calling them heroes, Garnet's smirk dropped. "So, Lapis made it off-planet."

Pearl's expression turned to one of worry. "She'll be heading for Homeworld...What does this mean for us?"

Garnet simply looked up at the sky. There was only one thing that could be done now. "We wait and see," she said calmly.

The citizens continue cheering, carrying Isaac, Steven, and Connie above them on their shoulders, parading them around. As they did this, the hybrids took a moment to look up at the sky above the Temple. At the single distant star that she called home.

"See you, Lapis," Steven sais with a warm smile on his face.

Isaac did the same as he gazed up at the star, as night became day. "See you around, Ocean Gem," he said, as the star disappeared in the sunlight. "Wherever you are..."

* * *

 **AN: And that ends the chapter, and also the ends Act One of "Gem of War" and I do have to say that I'm definitely ready to get into the _real_ plot of _Steven Universe._ First off, I just want to say thank you to everyone who's not only followed the story up to this point, but also say thank to those of you that have been reviewing the chapters. **

**Seriously guys, I really want feedback on this story. What do I have to do to get some reviews?**

 **It's been a really rough few days for me as the whole coronavirus thing has put everyone on edge. I'm not sick, luckily, but everything is changing so quickly and drastically. School's on lockdown, toilet papers' in high diamond apparently, and I'm forced to do my school work at home and have to move everything out of my dorm back home. Basically it means that while I can focus on fanfics, it also means I can get easily distracted by fanfics.**

 **I hope all of you are in good health and doing everything to keep yourselves from getting sick.**

 **So, for the final chapter of the first Act, I decided to have the two episodes be combined into one action-packed adventure.**

 **So when I said in my last update that "The Reason: A Gem of War story" was going to be taken down, admiral809 recommended that I don't take it down, as there are people who like it. So, what I'm going to do is keep "The Reason" and as kind of a _Star Wars_ Legends story. It's its own story, and will not be canon with "Gem of War". But what I'll also do is go in and make adjustments in "The Reason" so that it fits with the flashback chapters of the main story. These flashback chapters will be known as Act Zero and are out of order.**

 **Let me ask you guys something. Do you think the Crystal Gems are doing the right thing by not telling Isaac what they know about Onyx? If you were in their shoes, would you honor Rose's wishes and not tell him?**

 **I am going to be putting this story on hiatus and start working on "Godzilla: the Titan Slayer of Fairy Tail." But I will be coming back to this story every once in a while as I work on other stories. The next will be the first chapter of Act 0, so sit tight for that.**

 **Thank you very much for reading. "Gem of War" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and also Review it. If you any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please in a Review or a PM me.**

 **Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.**


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